Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Short Interest Up 9.1% in June

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,090,000 shares, a growth of 9.1% from the May 31st total of 999,500 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 291,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameris Bancorp

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,791 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 56,626 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after buying an additional 554 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 30,112 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,597,000 after buying an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 35,998 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,742,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $50.33 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $48.54 and a 200-day moving average of $48.58. Ameris Bancorp has a 1 year low of $33.21 and a 1 year high of $53.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 1.04.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $267.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. Ameris Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.60%.

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.