Bessemer Group Inc. Purchases 351,310 Shares of Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 98,682.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 351,666 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 351,310 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $25,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $53,624,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 67.4% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,218,958 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $78,867,000 after purchasing an additional 490,602 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 54.6% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 777,107 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,279,000 after purchasing an additional 274,417 shares during the period. Davis Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 55.5% in the second quarter. Davis Asset Management L.P. now owns 621,800 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,230,000 after purchasing an additional 221,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 10.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,077,359 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $134,405,000 after purchasing an additional 202,165 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ABCB. Piper Sandler set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $94.00 target price on Ameris Bancorp in a report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.50.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 1.9%

ABCB stock opened at $85.98 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $78.47 and its 200 day moving average is $74.39. The stock has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.50 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Ameris Bancorp has a 1-year low of $48.27 and a 1-year high of $86.35.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.03. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 21.46% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $309.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, October 20th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to reacquire up to 4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.33%.

Ameris Bancorp Company Profile

Ameris Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its principal subsidiary, Ameris Bank, the company offers a broad range of commercial and retail banking services to individuals, small businesses, middle market companies and agricultural customers. Its core business lines encompass deposit services, lending solutions, treasury management, mortgage origination and servicing, insurance products and wealth management.

Ameris Bancorp operates a network of branches and loan production offices across the southeastern United States, including Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.