Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $71.43.

ABCB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James reduced their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler Companies increased their price objective on Ameris Bancorp to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameris Bancorp news, insider Douglas D. Strange purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $56.95 per share, with a total value of $56,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,105,000.85. This trade represents a 5.43 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameris Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ABCB. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 2,436.8% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 482 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 84.1% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 731 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 56.1% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,113 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

ABCB opened at $59.78 on Wednesday. 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 has a 1 year low of $45.89 and a 1 year high of $74.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $56.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.42. The stock has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 0.91.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The bank reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $285.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $276.06 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 21.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.81%.

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.