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

Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $66.67.

A number of research firms have recently commented on ABCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 2.2 %

ABCB stock opened at $62.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.04 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Ameris Bancorp has a 12 month low of $38.71 and a 12 month high of $66.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.54.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.50%.

Institutional Trading of Ameris Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,560,371 shares of the bank’s stock worth $365,771,000 after buying an additional 92,491 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,374,719 shares of the bank’s stock worth $220,263,000 after buying an additional 45,240 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position 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 buying an additional 19,287 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,263,487 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,829,000 after buying an additional 55,473 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 863,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,861,000 after buying an additional 12,054 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

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.