StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Posted by Matthew Steigler on Mar 19th, 2023

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB – Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on ABCB. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $52.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $63.00 to $60.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an overweight rating and set a $62.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Monday, December 5th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a neutral rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $55.50.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of ABCB opened at $35.79 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.09. Ameris Bancorp has a one year low of $34.28 and a one year high of $54.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $46.65 and its 200-day moving average is $48.20.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 27th. The bank reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.17). Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 29.41% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The business had revenue of $272.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $281.13 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. Ameris Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ameris Bancorp

In related news, Director William I. Jr. Bowen purchased 670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $41.20 per share, for a total transaction of $27,604.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $942,326.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ameris Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABCB. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 89.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 667 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 41.9% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,269 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. 86.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ameris Bancorp

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Ameris Bancorp is a bank holding company, which through the subsidiary, Ameris Bank, engages in the provision of banking services to its retail and commercial customers. It operates through the following business segments: Banking, Retail Mortgage, Warehouse Lending, the SBA and Premium Finance. The Banking segment offers full service financial services to include commercial loans, consumer loans and deposit accounts.