Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Short Interest Update

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,330,000 shares, a decrease of 8.9% from the March 15th total of 1,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 393,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 41.9% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,269 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. State of Wyoming boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 202.5% during the 1st quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 2,211 shares of the bank’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 1,480 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ ABCB opened at $45.05 on Tuesday. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $28.33 and a twelve month high of $53.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company’s fifty day moving average is $46.75 and its 200-day moving average is $45.74. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 1.05.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.12 by ($0.05). Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 8.30%. The business had revenue of $262.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.23 million. Equities research analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABCB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.25.

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.