Arizona State Retirement System Trims Position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Arizona State Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 18,362 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 403 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. IFG Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $246,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 80.6% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 15,720 shares of the bank’s stock worth $834,000 after purchasing an additional 7,017 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,791 shares of the bank’s stock worth $891,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 9.4% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 68,123 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 5,846 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 3.7% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,547,134 shares of the bank’s stock worth $97,784,000 after purchasing an additional 90,694 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.25.

Insider Activity at Ameris Bancorp

In related news, insider Jon S. Edwards sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 59,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,826,368.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $44.44 on Wednesday. Ameris Bancorp has a 52-week low of $28.33 and a 52-week high of $53.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $46.70 and a 200-day moving average of $45.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 8.30% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $262.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.23 million. As a group, analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 8th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is 15.38%.

Ameris Bancorp 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.