Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Stock

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) had its price target lifted by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 16.16% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reduced their price target on 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 increased their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James raised 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.17.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $68.87 on Wednesday. Ameris Bancorp has a 12 month low of $44.00 and a 12 month high of $74.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $65.59 and its 200-day moving average is $58.70. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 1.03.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 20.08%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameris Bancorp

In other news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total value of $559,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. This represents a 22.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $210,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its position in Ameris Bancorp by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 77,277 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,821,000 after purchasing an additional 4,875 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $213,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in Ameris Bancorp by 107.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 140,001 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,735,000 after purchasing an additional 72,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd raised its position in Ameris Bancorp by 43.2% during the 3rd quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 6,911 shares of the bank’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.