Capital Fund Management S.A. Invests $1.66 Million in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Capital Fund Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 25,704 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,663,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABCB. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 7.0% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 13,720 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $10,528,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 16,516.1% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 43,368 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,806,000 after purchasing an additional 43,107 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ameris Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $609,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 55.6% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 62,656 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,607,000 after purchasing an additional 22,377 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on ABCB. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. DA Davidson began coverage on Ameris Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $87.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Piper Sandler set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.57.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 0.1%

ABCB opened at $76.79 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $73.54 and a 200-day moving average of $69.61. The company has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.74 and a beta of 1.00. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $48.27 and a fifty-two week high of $77.63. 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 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 issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.84%.

Ameris Bancorp declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, October 20th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to buy up to 4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.