Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 9.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 907,140 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 79,060 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.31% of Ameris Bancorp worth $56,596,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ABCB. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 5.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 45,663 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,210,000 after purchasing an additional 2,443 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 27,324 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after buying an additional 1,982 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 11,502 shares of the bank’s stock worth $579,000 after buying an additional 1,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

ABCB stock opened at $70.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Ameris Bancorp has a 52 week low of $42.25 and a 52 week high of $74.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 1.01.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 20.08%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 12.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total value of $559,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. This represents a 22.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABCB shares. Raymond James raised Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Stephens upped their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.67.

Ameris Bancorp Company Profile

Ameris Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Ameris Bank that provides range of banking services to retail and commercial customers. It operates through five segments: Banking Division, Retail Mortgage Division, Warehouse Lending Division, SBA Division, and Premium Finance Division. The company offers commercial and retail checking, regular interest-bearing savings, money market, individual retirement, and certificates of deposit accounts.