Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 90,883 Shares of Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 9.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,057,347 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 90,883 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $82,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 316.9% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,059 shares of the bank’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $89.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Piper Sandler downgraded Ameris Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $96.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Sunday. Stephens lifted their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley raised Ameris Bancorp to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded Ameris Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.67.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:ABCB opened at $93.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Ameris Bancorp has a one year low of $64.64 and a one year high of $93.22. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $87.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.69. The stock has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.87 and a beta of 0.91.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.58 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.28 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 12.58%.

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.