The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Trims Stock Holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 5.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 478,213 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 26,505 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.69% of Ameris Bancorp worth $24,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Ameris Bancorp by 66.1% during 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 last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% during the 2nd 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. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $143,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABCB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $52.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.00.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ ABCB opened at $60.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $59.88 and a 200 day moving average of $52.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $34.26 and a twelve month high of $65.40.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.03. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.97% and a net margin of 19.28%. The business had revenue of $436.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $273.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.60%.

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.