Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $86.42 and last traded at $85.8580, with a volume of 582332 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $85.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ABCB shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. DA Davidson set a $94.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up previously from $73.00) on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. 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 Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.48 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $78.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.64.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.03. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 21.46%.The firm had revenue of $309.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

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 issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 13.33%.

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

Institutional Trading of Ameris Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABCB. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 7.0% in the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 13,720 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 16.8% in the third quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 394,563 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,925,000 after purchasing an additional 56,852 shares in the last quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $1,663,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 17.9% in the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 86,422 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,336,000 after buying an additional 13,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 969,680 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,087,000 after acquiring an additional 26,639 shares during the last quarter. 91.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.