Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $1.72 Million Investment in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 32,500 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,724,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew 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 valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew 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 valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd grew 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 valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 43.9% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,821 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 3.3 %

ABCB stock opened at $46.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Ameris Bancorp has a 1 year low of $28.33 and a 1 year high of $53.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.83. The firm has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 11.87 and a beta of 1.05.

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 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 8th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 15.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameris Bancorp news, insider Jon S. Edwards sold 7,500 shares of the business’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 transaction, the insider now 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.60% 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.