Ethic Inc. Reduces Holdings in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Ethic Inc. decreased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,200 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 450 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 73.2% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 492 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $68,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 52.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,777 shares of the bank’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors bought a new stake in Ameris Bancorp in the first quarter valued at about $128,000. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 8.3% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,346 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson raised Ameris Bancorp to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Piper Sandler set a $84.00 price objective on Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.33.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

ABCB stock opened at $71.69 on Friday. Ameris Bancorp has a 1 year low of $48.27 and a 1 year high of $76.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.76 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $73.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.98.

Ameris Bancorp declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, October 20th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to reacquire up to 4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.84%.

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.