Ameris Bancorp’s (ABCB) “Equal Weight” Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $53.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. DA Davidson restated a buy rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, January 15th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $50.25.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ ABCB opened at $47.88 on Friday. Ameris Bancorp has a 1 year low of $28.33 and a 1 year high of $53.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $46.59 and a 200 day moving average of $46.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $267.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.05 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 18.06% and a return on equity of 8.71%. Ameris Bancorp’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 8th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is 14.60%.

Insider Activity at Ameris Bancorp

In other Ameris Bancorp news, insider Jon S. Edwards sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.35, for a total transaction of $355,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 59,691 shares in the company, valued at $2,826,368.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameris Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABCB. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Ameris Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,151,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $334,000. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,312,649 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $88,783,000 after purchasing an additional 10,692 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,188 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 29,493 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

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.