Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $69.17.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameris Bancorp news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This trade represents a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ameris Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ABCB. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Ameris Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted 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 during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:ABCB opened at $68.87 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $65.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Ameris Bancorp has a 1-year low of $44.00 and a 1-year high of $74.56.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $424.86 million for 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 12.50%.

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.