Swiss National Bank Purchases 2,700 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB – Get Rating) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 159,144 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.23% of Ameris Bancorp worth $7,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 14.3% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,897,720 shares of the bank’s stock worth $171,622,000 after buying an additional 488,485 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,201,328 shares of the bank’s stock worth $228,235,000 after acquiring an additional 358,777 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,630,195 shares of the bank’s stock worth $162,307,000 after purchasing an additional 240,506 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,346,699 shares of the bank’s stock worth $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 158,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,150,631 shares of the bank’s stock worth $453,836,000 after purchasing an additional 158,483 shares in the last quarter. 86.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $51.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Stephens began coverage on Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $41.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $43.00 to $38.00 in a report on Monday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.40.

Insider Transactions at Ameris Bancorp

In related news, insider James A. Lahaise acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $33.03 per share, for a total transaction of $330,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 79,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,626,413.48. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Ameris Bancorp news, Director William I. Jr. Bowen bought 670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $41.20 per share, for a total transaction of $27,604.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $942,326.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider James A. Lahaise bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $33.03 per share, with a total value of $330,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 79,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,626,413.48. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 32,670 shares of company stock worth $1,006,114. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of ABCB stock opened at $31.90 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $34.20 and its 200 day moving average is $43.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Ameris Bancorp has a 52-week low of $28.33 and a 52-week high of $54.24. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.80 and a beta of 1.09.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.34). Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.94% and a net margin of 25.82%. The firm had revenue of $267.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $264.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Ameris Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 12.79%.

Ameris Bancorp Company Profile

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Ameris Bancorp is a bank holding company, which through the subsidiary, Ameris Bank, engages in the provision of banking services to its retail and commercial customers. It operates through the following business segments: Banking, Retail Mortgage, Warehouse Lending, the SBA and Premium Finance. The Banking segment offers full service financial services to include commercial loans, consumer loans and deposit accounts.