Bank of Montreal Can Acquires 15,931 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,152 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,931 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $2,891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the second quarter worth $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3,396.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,923 shares of the bank’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 1,868 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ ABCB opened at $69.34 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $65.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 1.03. Ameris Bancorp has a 52-week low of $44.00 and a 52-week high of $74.56.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Stephens raised their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameris Bancorp news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total transaction of $559,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,610.04. The trade was a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.