New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $15.87 Million Holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 254,309 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,090 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.37% of Ameris Bancorp worth $15,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 3,396.4% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,923 shares of the bank’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 1,868 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on ABCB shares. StockNews.com raised Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.67.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

ABCB opened at $62.57 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Ameris Bancorp has a 12 month low of $38.71 and a 12 month high of $66.51. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.54. The stock has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.04 and a beta of 1.01.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $290.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.50%.

Ameris Bancorp 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.