Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Receives $66.67 Consensus PT from Analysts

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $66.67.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ABCB. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

Insider Activity at Ameris Bancorp

In other Ameris Bancorp news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total value of $559,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,610.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ameris Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameris Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position 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 during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% during the second 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 boosted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3,396.4% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ ABCB opened at $70.51 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.45. Ameris Bancorp has a 52-week low of $38.83 and a 52-week high of $72.68. 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 cap of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69 and a beta of 1.01.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last posted 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 business had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 20.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio 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.