Brokerages Set Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Price Target at $86.50

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ABCB shares. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. DA Davidson set a $94.00 target price on Ameris Bancorp in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $75.75 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.58. 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 one year low of $48.27 and a one year high of $87.98. The company has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.54 and a beta of 0.97.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the company earned $1.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameris Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABCB. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 9.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 29,288 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,687,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 39,181 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,256,000 after purchasing an additional 1,703 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 36.7% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,651 shares of the bank’s stock worth $671,000 after buying an additional 3,129 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $243,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 187,024 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,767,000 after buying an additional 13,633 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

About Ameris Bancorp

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.