Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $56.60 Million Stock Position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 907,140 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 79,060 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.31% of Ameris Bancorp worth $56,596,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABCB. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,374,719 shares of the bank's stock worth $220,263,000 after buying an additional 45,240 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 0.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,263,487 shares of the bank's stock valued at $78,829,000 after purchasing an additional 55,473 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 863,294 shares of the bank's stock worth $53,861,000 after purchasing an additional 12,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.5% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 809,338 shares of the bank's stock valued at $50,495,000 after buying an additional 19,506 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Ameris Bancorp stock traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $70.28. The company had a trading volume of 269,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 395,914. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.31. The company has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 1.01. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $42.25 and a fifty-two week high of $74.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 20.08%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors 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 0.85%. Ameris Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABCB has been the subject 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. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.67.

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.