Fmr LLC Has $5.92 Million Stock Holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 24.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 94,887 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 18,822 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned 0.14% of Ameris Bancorp worth $5,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ABCB. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 22.9% in the third quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 8,587 shares of the bank's stock worth $535,000 after acquiring an additional 1,598 shares during the last quarter. Prospector Partners LLC grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 217,415 shares of the bank's stock worth $13,565,000 after purchasing an additional 6,054 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 47,152 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,891,000 after purchasing an additional 15,931 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 208.0% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 83,393 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,203,000 after purchasing an additional 56,320 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 14.0% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 20,295 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,266,000 after buying an additional 2,486 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameris Bancorp

In related news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the director now owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. The trade was a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 5.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective 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 raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a research report 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. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $69.17.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Ameris Bancorp stock traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $66.64. The company had a trading volume of 420,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 360,976. The company has a market capitalization of $4.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.44. Ameris Bancorp has a 1-year low of $44.00 and a 1-year high of $74.56.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Ameris Bancorp's 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.