Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Stock Position Raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 9.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 728,253 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,448 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 1.05% of Ameris Bancorp worth $45,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Activity at Ameris Bancorp

In other Ameris Bancorp 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 transaction 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. This represents a 22.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on ABCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. 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 report on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Stephens boosted their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameris Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.17.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of ABCB stock opened at $61.92 on Monday. Ameris Bancorp has a one year low of $44.00 and a one year high of $74.56. The stock has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.36.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.16 EPS. Analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 16.67%.

Ameris Bancorp 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.