Ameris Bancorp $ABCB Shares Sold by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 44.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 362,194 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 295,337 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $26,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,258,436 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $92,256,000 after acquiring an additional 39,478 shares during the period. North Reef Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 4.8% in the third quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 1,981,061 shares of the bank’s stock worth $145,232,000 after purchasing an additional 91,043 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 8.3% in the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 196,564 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,410,000 after purchasing an additional 15,006 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 996,786 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,031,000 after purchasing an additional 27,106 shares during the period. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 454,169 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,731,000 after purchasing an additional 59,606 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ABCB opened at $84.72 on Tuesday. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $59.54 and a twelve month high of $87.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.26 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $81.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.33.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.09. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 21.46% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $314.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $309.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABCB shares. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.17.

Ameris Bancorp Profile

Ameris Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its principal subsidiary, Ameris Bank, the company offers a broad range of commercial and retail banking services to individuals, small businesses, middle market companies and agricultural customers. Its core business lines encompass deposit services, lending solutions, treasury management, mortgage origination and servicing, insurance products and wealth management.

Ameris Bancorp operates a network of branches and loan production offices across the southeastern United States, including Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.