Artemis Investment Management LLP Acquires New Shares in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 22,441 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,667,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 9.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 29,288 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,687,000 after buying an additional 2,546 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 39,181 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,703 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 36.7% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,651 shares of the bank’s stock worth $671,000 after acquiring an additional 3,129 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $243,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 187,024 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,767,000 after acquiring an additional 13,633 shares during the period. 91.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on ABCB shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.17.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

ABCB stock opened at $85.61 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.02. The company has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $58.91 and a fifty-two week high of $87.98.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.09. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 21.46% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $314.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $309.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.58%.

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.