Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.20

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 18th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.20 per share by the bank on Monday, January 6th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15.

Ameris Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 11.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Ameris Bancorp to earn $4.98 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 12.0%.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

ABCB traded down $0.13 on Thursday, hitting $61.95. 412,822 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 366,092. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $44.00 and a fifty-two week high of $74.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s fifty day moving average is $66.79 and its 200 day moving average is $60.00.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business 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 posted $1.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ameris Bancorp

In related news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 approximately $1,918,610.04. This represents a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ABCB. Raymond James upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial cut their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens raised their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.17.

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.