Prospector Partners LLC Has $17.30 Million Holdings in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Prospector Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 3.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 235,933 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 8,318 shares during the period. Ameris Bancorp accounts for about 2.1% of Prospector Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Prospector Partners LLC owned approximately 0.34% of Ameris Bancorp worth $17,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABCB. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 2,311.8% during the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 410 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1,567.6% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 567 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 51.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 547 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 48.8% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the period. 91.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABCB has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Stephens upped their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. DA Davidson set a $94.00 price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $84.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.50.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ ABCB opened at $83.21 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97 and a beta of 0.99. 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 1 year low of $48.27 and a 1 year high of $87.98.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $309.92 million during 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.33%.

Ameris Bancorp 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.