Aberdeen Group plc Boosts Holdings in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Aberdeen Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 86.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 320,865 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 148,975 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.47% of Ameris Bancorp worth $23,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 10.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,077,359 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $134,405,000 after purchasing an additional 202,165 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,573,486 shares of the bank’s stock worth $101,815,000 after acquiring an additional 11,909 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 67.4% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,218,958 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,867,000 after purchasing an additional 490,602 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.8% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 969,680 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,087,000 after purchasing an additional 26,639 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $53,624,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $83.91 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.33. Ameris Bancorp has a 52 week low of $48.27 and a 52 week high of $87.98. The company has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a PE ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 0.99.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.59 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 firm had revenue of $309.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 13.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABCB. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. DA Davidson set a $94.00 price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $84.00 target price on Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.50.

Ameris Bancorp 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.