Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stake in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,467,880 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 33,386 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.82% of Ameris Bancorp worth $396,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 726,833 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,558,000 after buying an additional 22,514 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 75,685 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,015,000 after buying an additional 7,562 shares during the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $4,774,000. Penn Capital Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 331,757 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,624,000 after buying an additional 28,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $310,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of ABCB opened at $49.10 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $48.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.57. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $33.21 and a twelve month high of $53.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.06. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 18.06%. The firm had revenue of $267.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABCB. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.00.

Ameris Bancorp Company 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.