Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $86.50.

ABCB has been the topic of a number of research reports. DA Davidson set a $94.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler set a $84.00 price target on Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of ABCB opened at $84.26 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.26. Ameris Bancorp has a 12 month low of $48.27 and a 12 month high of $85.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.17 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Ameris Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, October 20th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameris Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $53,624,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Ameris Bancorp by 134.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 931,911 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $68,318,000 after buying an additional 534,830 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 67.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,214 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $129,320,000 after acquiring an additional 414,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 98,682.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 351,666 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,780,000 after acquiring an additional 351,310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

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.