Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 863,294 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,054 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 1.25% of Ameris Bancorp worth $53,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Ameris Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 66.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3,396.4% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ABCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.67.

Insider Activity at Ameris Bancorp

In other Ameris Bancorp news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of Ameris Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total value of $559,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at $1,918,610.04. The trade was a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Down 0.5 %

ABCB opened at $69.62 on Friday. Ameris Bancorp has a 12-month low of $40.71 and a 12-month high of $72.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of 14.50 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $63.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $56.64.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.50%.

Ameris Bancorp Company Profile

Ameris Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Ameris Bank that provides range of banking services to retail and commercial customers. It operates through five segments: Banking Division, Retail Mortgage Division, Warehouse Lending Division, SBA Division, and Premium Finance Division. The company offers commercial and retail checking, regular interest-bearing savings, money market, individual retirement, and certificates of deposit accounts.