Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,295 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 2,486 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $1,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 3,396.4% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,923 shares of the bank’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 1,868 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

ABCB opened at $68.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.75 and a beta of 1.03. Ameris Bancorp has a 1 year low of $44.00 and a 1 year high of $74.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $65.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.50.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.13. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 20.08%. The company had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $290.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on ABCB shares. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens raised their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of Ameris Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total value of $559,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. The trade was a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

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.