ARGA Investment Management LP Sells 32,989 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

ARGA Investment Management LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 81.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,536 shares of the bank's stock after selling 32,989 shares during the quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP's holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $470,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 5.7% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 45,663 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,210,000 after purchasing an additional 2,443 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 27,324 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,982 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 66.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the bank's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 15.9% during the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 11,502 shares of the bank's stock worth $579,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the bank's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ameris Bancorp

In other news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,918,610.04. This trade represents a 22.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 5.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ABCB shares. Stephens increased 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. StockNews.com upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Raymond James raised Ameris Bancorp from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.67.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of ABCB traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $70.28. 269,583 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 395,914. The stock has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $65.18 and a 200-day moving average of $58.31. 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 has a 52 week low of $42.25 and a 52 week high of $74.56.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Get Free Report) last announced 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 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 company earned $1.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Ameris Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 12.50%.

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.