Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 21,142 Shares of Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,355 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 21,142 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.07% of Ameris Bancorp worth $3,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,624,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 490,602 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 54.6% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 777,107 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,279,000 after acquiring an additional 274,417 shares in the last quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 55.5% in the second 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. grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 10.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,077,359 shares of the bank’s stock worth $134,405,000 after acquiring an additional 202,165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of ABCB stock opened at $85.98 on Monday. 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 $86.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.50 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $78.47 and its 200 day moving average is $74.50.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $309.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.48 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 21.46%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 13.33%.

Ameris Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, October 20th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to purchase up to 4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABCB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “hold” 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 report on Wednesday, October 29th. DA Davidson set a $94.00 price objective on Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.50.

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.