Bank of America Corp DE Boosts Stock Position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 379,934 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,898 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.55% of Ameris Bancorp worth $23,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABCB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 30.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 952,058 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,570,000 after purchasing an additional 223,805 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 789,271 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,385,000 after buying an additional 19,150 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 158.2% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 40,279 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,520,000 after acquiring an additional 24,680 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $385,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $1,195,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABCB. Piper Sandler Companies upped their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.43.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ABCB opened at $63.44 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $56.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.40. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $45.89 and a twelve month high of $74.56.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The bank reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 21.46% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $285.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $276.06 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is 14.81%.

Insider Transactions at Ameris Bancorp

In related news, insider Douglas D. Strange acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $56.95 per share, with a total value of $56,950.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 19,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,105,000.85. The trade was a 5.43% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.40% 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.