FY2024 EPS Estimate for Ameris Bancorp Raised by Analyst

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) – Equities researchers at DA Davidson raised their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note issued on Thursday, December 19th. DA Davidson analyst M. Navas now forecasts that the bank will post earnings of $4.82 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $4.75. The consensus estimate for Ameris Bancorp’s current full-year earnings is $4.83 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Ameris Bancorp’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.17 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $5.15 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stephens upped their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James raised 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.17.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of ABCB opened at $61.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average is $66.82 and its 200-day moving average is $60.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Ameris Bancorp has a 12 month low of $44.00 and a 12 month high of $74.56.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.13. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The firm had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.60 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.16 EPS.

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. This is a positive change from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 1.6% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 851,240 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,860,000 after acquiring an additional 13,418 shares during the period. Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,059,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 135.5% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 115,194 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,187,000 after purchasing an additional 66,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 32.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 142,122 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,867,000 after purchasing an additional 34,881 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.