Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $65.67 and last traded at $65.67, with a volume of 55893 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $63.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson upped their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Stephens upped their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $52.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameris Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.00.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $60.21 and a 200-day moving average of $53.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.03. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.97% and a net margin of 19.28%. The company had revenue of $436.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $273.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.60%.

Institutional Trading of Ameris Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,560,371 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $365,771,000 after purchasing an additional 92,491 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,374,719 shares of the bank’s stock worth $220,263,000 after purchasing an additional 45,240 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,533,580 shares of the bank’s stock worth $127,566,000 after purchasing an additional 19,287 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,254,903 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $60,712,000 after acquiring an additional 36,873 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.6% during the 2nd 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. 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.