Cary Street Partners Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 6,012 Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 6,012 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $376,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 952,058 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,570,000 after buying an additional 223,805 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 4.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,263,487 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,829,000 after acquiring an additional 55,473 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in Ameris Bancorp by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 789,271 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,385,000 after purchasing an additional 19,150 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 158.2% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 40,279 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,520,000 after purchasing an additional 24,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $385,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ ABCB opened at $60.43 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Ameris Bancorp has a 1 year low of $45.89 and a 1 year high of $74.56. The firm has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 0.91.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The bank reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.16. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 21.46% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $285.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $276.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.81%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Douglas D. Strange bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $56.95 per share, with a total value of $56,950.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 19,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,105,000.85. This represents a 5.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ABCB shares. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 target price for the company. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies increased their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.43.

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.