Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $70.24 and last traded at $70.09, with a volume of 25337 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $62.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ABCB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.67.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 13.0 %

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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $61.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.73 and a beta of 1.01.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.13. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The business had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.60 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.50%.

Institutional Trading of Ameris Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,560,371 shares of the bank’s stock worth $365,771,000 after buying an additional 92,491 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 1.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,374,719 shares of the bank’s stock worth $220,263,000 after buying an additional 45,240 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 0.8% during the second quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,533,580 shares of the bank’s stock worth $127,566,000 after buying an additional 19,287 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 4.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,263,487 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,829,000 after buying an additional 55,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 1.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 863,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,861,000 after buying an additional 12,054 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

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.