Paloma Partners Management Co Acquires Shares of 4,406 Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,406 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Ameris Bancorp by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,374,719 shares of the bank’s stock worth $220,263,000 after purchasing an additional 45,240 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,533,580 shares of the bank’s stock worth $127,566,000 after acquiring an additional 19,287 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,263,487 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,829,000 after acquiring an additional 55,473 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 907,140 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,596,000 after acquiring an additional 79,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 1.4% in 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. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ ABCB opened at $68.87 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $65.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.03. Ameris Bancorp has a 52-week low of $44.00 and a 52-week high of $74.56.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 20.08%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Truist Financial dropped 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. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameris Bancorp news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of Ameris Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total value of $559,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. The trade was a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ameris Bancorp Company Profile

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.