Congress Asset Management Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 809,338 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 19,506 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. owned approximately 1.17% of Ameris Bancorp worth $50,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the bank's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ameris Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $143,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:ABCB traded down $1.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $61.99. The stock had a trading volume of 323,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 359,972. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $61.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 1.01. Ameris Bancorp has a one year low of $36.81 and a one year high of $66.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.97% and a net margin of 19.28%. The firm had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Ameris Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 12.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on ABCB shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday. Stephens lifted their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.67.

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.