Sanctuary Advisors LLC Makes New $210,000 Investment in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,362 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,503 shares of the bank’s stock worth $780,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 38.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,130 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,359 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 4,236 shares of the bank’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ABCB opened at $63.05 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Ameris Bancorp has a 52-week low of $44.00 and a 52-week high of $74.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.77.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.60 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABCB has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens raised their price objective 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. Raymond James raised 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 report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total value of $559,280.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,918,610.04. The trade was a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.50% 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.