Analysts Set Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Target Price at $66.67

Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $66.67.

ABCB has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ABCB opened at $69.74 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $62.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Ameris Bancorp has a 1-year low of $38.71 and a 1-year high of $71.96.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.13. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The company had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameris Bancorp

In other Ameris Bancorp news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of Ameris Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 130.7% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,169 shares of the bank’s stock worth $589,000 after acquiring an additional 6,895 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the first quarter worth $278,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 181.3% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 52,029 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,517,000 after acquiring an additional 33,531 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 4.2% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 87,499 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,258,000 after acquiring an additional 3,560 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 56,626 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,740,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

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.