Ameris Bancorp’s (ABCB) “Equal Weight” Rating Reaffirmed at Stephens

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating restated by stock analysts at Stephens in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $53.00 target price on the bank’s stock. Stephens’ price target indicates a potential upside of 9.39% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Monday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.25.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ ABCB traded up $0.94 on Friday, hitting $48.45. 94,704 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 376,085. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $28.33 and a fifty-two week high of $53.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $46.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.05.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $267.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.05 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 8.30%. The company’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Ameris Bancorp news, insider Jon S. Edwards sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.35, for a total transaction of $355,125.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,826,368.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ameris Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,791 shares of the bank’s stock worth $891,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,765 shares of the bank’s stock worth $720,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 11.1% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,565 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Argent Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.3% during the third quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 21,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $825,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 4.6% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,344 shares of the bank’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.