Bank of Montreal Can Purchases 15,931 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,152 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 15,931 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.07% of Ameris Bancorp worth $2,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameris Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 66.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the bank's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the bank's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 3,396.4% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,923 shares of the bank's stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total transaction of $559,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company's stock.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Ameris Bancorp stock traded down $0.47 during trading on Thursday, hitting $68.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 189,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 362,778. The stock has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53 and a beta of 1.03. Ameris Bancorp has a 52 week low of $44.00 and a 52 week high of $74.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $65.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Ameris Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 12.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABCB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating 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 target on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.17.

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.