Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,263,487 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,473 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.83% of Ameris Bancorp worth $78,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ameris Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 6.7% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 77,277 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,821,000 after purchasing an additional 4,875 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $213,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 107.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 140,001 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,735,000 after purchasing an additional 72,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 43.2% during the 3rd quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 6,911 shares of the bank’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 2,086 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:ABCB opened at $62.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $66.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.12. Ameris Bancorp has a 1-year low of $44.00 and a 1-year high of $74.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 12.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameris Bancorp news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.