Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Receives $69.17 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.17.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ABCB shares. Stephens boosted their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James raised Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st.

Insider Transactions at Ameris Bancorp

In other news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total transaction of $559,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,610.04. This represents a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameris Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $51,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 38.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,130 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $98,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3,396.4% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 1,868 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of ABCB opened at $64.35 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 1.06. Ameris Bancorp has a 12-month low of $44.22 and a 12-month high of $74.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $65.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.67%.

About Ameris Bancorp

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.