Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 57.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,807 shares of the bank's stock after selling 15,815 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $232,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in 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 during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 29.0% in the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 8,007 shares of the bank's stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $349,000. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ameris Bancorp

In other 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 transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 5.50% of the company's stock.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Ameris Bancorp stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $69.63. The company had a trading volume of 400,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 365,429. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $63.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.79. Ameris Bancorp has a 1 year low of $40.71 and a 1 year high of $72.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51 and a beta 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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $290.60 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Ameris Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Raymond James raised Ameris Bancorp from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens boosted their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial dropped 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 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, Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.