Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Holdings Lowered by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,504,758 shares of the bank's stock after selling 42,651 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.18% of Ameris Bancorp worth $93,899,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 907,140 shares of the bank's stock valued at $56,596,000 after buying an additional 79,060 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 107.7% in the third 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 during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 135.5% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 115,194 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,187,000 after acquiring an additional 66,287 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 208.0% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 83,393 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,203,000 after purchasing an additional 56,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. 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 report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.17.

Insider Transactions at Ameris Bancorp

In related news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company's stock.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

ABCB stock traded up $0.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $62.81. The company had a trading volume of 1,579,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 371,025. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $66.82 and a 200 day moving average of $60.01. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $44.00 and a fifty-two week high of $74.56.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The company had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Ameris Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Ameris Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.50%.

Ameris Bancorp 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.