Jennison Associates LLC Boosts Holdings in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 31.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,741,214 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 414,920 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $129,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABCB. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 547 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. 91.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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, February 2nd. Stephens raised their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial raised their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.17.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:ABCB opened at $84.58 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $79.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.94. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 0.93. Ameris Bancorp has a 12-month low of $58.03 and a 12-month high of $87.98.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $314.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $309.58 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 21.46%.During the same period last year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect 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, April 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.58%.

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.