Persistent Asset Partners Ltd Takes Position in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,721 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $566,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 10.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 0.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,573,486 shares of the bank’s stock worth $101,815,000 after acquiring an additional 11,909 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,258,436 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $92,256,000 after purchasing an additional 39,478 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.8% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 969,680 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,087,000 after buying an additional 26,639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $53,624,000. Institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Down 0.4%

Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $82.86 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $79.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90 and a beta of 0.99. Ameris Bancorp has a 52 week low of $48.27 and a 52 week high of $87.98.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.59 EPS 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 business 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 earned $1.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ABCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report 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. DA Davidson set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, 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 report on Monday, February 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.50.

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.