Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 128,244 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $8,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3,396.4% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 1,868 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total transaction of $559,280.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,610.04. This represents a 22.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 5.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ABCB. StockNews.com raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.67.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ABCB opened at $72.37 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 1.01. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $41.00 and a fifty-two week high of $74.56. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.77.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued 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 yield of 0.83%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.50%.

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.