Savant Capital LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,371 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 1.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 863,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,861,000 after purchasing an additional 12,054 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 4.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,263,487 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,829,000 after purchasing an additional 55,473 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 13.9% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 21,107 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,317,000 after purchasing an additional 2,575 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 135.5% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 115,194 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,187,000 after purchasing an additional 66,287 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $233,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ABCB. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $71.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $71.00 target price (up previously from $67.00) on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price 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. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.50.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

ABCB opened at $66.12 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.57. The firm has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.69 and a beta of 1.06. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $44.22 and a twelve month high of $74.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. This is a positive change from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.36%.

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.