Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.20 Per Share

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 18th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of 0.20 per share by the bank on Monday, January 6th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

ABCB opened at $63.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.67. Ameris Bancorp has a 52-week low of $44.00 and a 52-week high of $74.56.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABCB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stephens lifted their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James upgraded 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. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.17.

About Ameris Bancorp

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.