Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 8.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 982,954 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 91,380 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.43% of Ameris Bancorp worth $72,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ameris Bancorp in the second quarter worth $53,624,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 67.4% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,218,958 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,867,000 after acquiring an additional 490,602 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 54.6% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 777,107 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,279,000 after acquiring an additional 274,417 shares during the period. Davis Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 55.5% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. now owns 621,800 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,230,000 after acquiring an additional 221,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,077,359 shares of the bank’s stock worth $134,405,000 after purchasing an additional 202,165 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 3.9%

NASDAQ:ABCB opened at $82.99 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $77.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.12. The stock has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Ameris Bancorp has a 12 month low of $48.27 and a 12 month high of $83.64.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.03. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 21.46% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $309.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $310.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.33%.

Ameris Bancorp declared that its board has initiated a share 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 typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ABCB shares. Piper Sandler set a $84.00 price objective on Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $94.00 price target on Ameris Bancorp in a report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.50.

Ameris Bancorp Company Profile

Ameris Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its principal subsidiary, Ameris Bank, the company offers a broad range of commercial and retail banking services to individuals, small businesses, middle market companies and agricultural customers. Its core business lines encompass deposit services, lending solutions, treasury management, mortgage origination and servicing, insurance products and wealth management.

Ameris Bancorp operates a network of branches and loan production offices across the southeastern United States, including Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.