Xponance Inc. Takes $211,000 Position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Xponance Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 3,980 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $218,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $219,000. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. bought a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $235,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 11.1% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,565 shares of the bank’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFG Advisory LLC bought a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $246,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:ABCB opened at $47.88 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $46.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.27. Ameris Bancorp has a 52 week low of $28.33 and a 52 week 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 stock has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 1.05.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.04. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 18.06% and a return on equity of 8.71%. The firm had revenue of $267.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.05 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABCB. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Monday, January 15th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.