Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 10,256 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 917,396 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,256 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $57,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABCB. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 56.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,113 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,332 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 167.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,431 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 896 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $98,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $71.00 price objective (up previously from $67.00) on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameris Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.50.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of ABCB stock opened at $56.53 on Thursday. Ameris Bancorp has a 12 month low of $44.22 and a 12 month high of $74.56. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.14.

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a boost from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.36%.

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.