Mackenzie Financial Corp Invests $218,000 in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,109 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Phocas Financial Corp. boosted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. now owns 203,211 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,780,000 after acquiring an additional 3,686 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Ameris Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,724,000. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $235,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $219,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 30,112 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,597,000 after buying an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameris Bancorp

In other news, insider Jon S. Edwards sold 7,500 shares of the company’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 directly owns 59,691 shares in the company, valued at $2,826,368.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of ABCB opened at $47.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03. Ameris Bancorp has a 52-week low of $28.33 and a 52-week high of $53.99. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average is $46.59 and its 200-day moving average is $46.27.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.04. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 18.06%. The firm had revenue of $267.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABCB. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered Ameris Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Monday, January 15th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective 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. One equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.25.

About Ameris Bancorp

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.