Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Director Sells $559,280.00 in Stock

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 27,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ:ABCB traded down $1.82 on Thursday, reaching $69.32. 626,828 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 363,826. The company has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.82 and a beta of 1.01. 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 has a 12 month low of $38.71 and a 12 month high of $71.96. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.76.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $424.86 million during 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 last year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on ABCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Raymond James raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. 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. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.67.

Institutional Trading of Ameris Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.1% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,503 shares of the bank’s stock worth $780,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 38.0% during 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 during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 1.8% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,359 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $924,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameris Bancorp Company 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.