Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 65,996 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 96.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,388 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 65,996 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABCB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 952,058 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,570,000 after buying an additional 223,805 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 7.3% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,479 shares of the bank’s stock worth $776,000 after acquiring an additional 922 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $385,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 24,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,251 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on ABCB. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Ameris Bancorp in a report on Friday, April 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies upped their price target on Ameris Bancorp to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.43.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $67.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.02. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $48.27 and a fifty-two week high of $74.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $63.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.28.

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

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.81%.

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.