Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Stock Holdings Increased by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 107.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 140,001 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 72,599 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.20% of Ameris Bancorp worth $8,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments raised its position in Ameris Bancorp by 10.2% during the second quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 15,066 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $759,000 after acquiring an additional 1,394 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameris Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 1.9% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 32,600 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,641,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $143,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ABCB shares. Raymond James raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com raised Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.17.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

ABCB opened at $65.34 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61 and a beta of 1.03. Ameris Bancorp has a 12-month low of $44.00 and a 12-month high of $74.56.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is 12.50%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total value of $559,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. This represents a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ameris Bancorp Profile

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.