Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Position in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,573,486 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 11,909 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $101,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABCB. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $357,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 1,567.6% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 567 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,740,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 101.0% during the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 61,925 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,007,000 after purchasing an additional 31,118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 2,311.8% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 410 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. DA Davidson raised shares of Ameris Bancorp to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Piper Sandler set a $84.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.33.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $71.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $73.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.63. Ameris Bancorp has a 12-month low of $48.27 and a 12-month high of $76.58. The stock has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 1.04.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.84%.

Ameris Bancorp declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, October 20th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.