Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 55,473 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,263,487 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 55,473 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.83% of Ameris Bancorp worth $78,829,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,560,371 shares of the bank's stock worth $365,771,000 after purchasing an additional 92,491 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $3,869,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 164.8% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 119,164 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,765,000 after acquiring an additional 74,165 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $2,462,000. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 290,033 shares of the bank's stock worth $14,603,000 after acquiring an additional 45,450 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of ABCB stock traded up $0.38 during trading on Friday, hitting $69.70. 429,444 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 379,381. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $62.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.13. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $38.71 and a twelve month high of $71.96.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions 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 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 owns 27,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ABCB shares. DA Davidson upped 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. Stephens raised their target price 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 raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a research report 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ameris Bancorp currently has an average 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.