CSM Advisors LLC Acquires 12,278 Shares of Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

CSM Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 13.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,012 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,278 shares during the quarter. CSM Advisors LLC owned 0.15% of Ameris Bancorp worth $7,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABCB. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC purchased a new stake in Ameris Bancorp in the third quarter worth $2,991,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $3,903,000. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 11.5% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 271,689 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,918,000 after purchasing an additional 27,940 shares during the period. Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $495,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 14.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 394,197 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,899,000 after purchasing an additional 51,082 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. DA Davidson set a $94.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.50.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $75.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $80.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.50. The firm has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41 and a beta of 0.97. Ameris Bancorp has a 12 month low of $48.27 and a 12 month high of $87.98.

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

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 13.33%.

About Ameris Bancorp

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.