Piper Sandler Increases Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Price Target to $57.00

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) had its price objective increased by Piper Sandler from $55.00 to $57.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

ABCB has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com lowered Ameris Bancorp from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report 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. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a buy rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, January 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 1.3 %

ABCB stock opened at $48.50 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $46.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.34. Ameris Bancorp has a one year low of $28.33 and a one year high of $53.99.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.06. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 18.06%. The business had revenue of $267.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The firm’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 year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is 14.60%.

Insider Transactions at Ameris Bancorp

In related 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 sale, 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameris Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ABCB. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ameris Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $39,787,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 50.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 845,390 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,848,000 after purchasing an additional 283,138 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 4,193.6% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 229,408 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,163,000 after purchasing an additional 224,065 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,193,610 shares of the bank’s stock worth $222,473,000 after purchasing an additional 205,750 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,514,293 shares of the bank’s stock worth $133,383,000 after purchasing an additional 201,644 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

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.