Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Price Target Raised to $80.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) had its price target upped by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target points to a potential upside of 16.64% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James upgraded 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 note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.17.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ABCB traded down $1.02 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $68.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 230,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 397,699. Ameris Bancorp has a 12 month low of $44.00 and a 12 month high of $74.56. The firm has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $65.43 and a 200-day moving average of $58.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.03.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of Ameris Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total transaction of $559,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. This trade represents a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the third quarter valued at $210,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 77,277 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,821,000 after purchasing an additional 4,875 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ameris Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $213,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 107.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 140,001 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,735,000 after purchasing an additional 72,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, iSAM Funds UK Ltd raised its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 43.2% in the third quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 6,911 shares of the bank’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 2,086 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

About Ameris Bancorp

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.