Quest Partners LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Quest Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 82.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,391 shares of the bank's stock after selling 44,787 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC's holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 66.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the bank's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 3,396.4% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,923 shares of the bank's stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,868 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABCB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stephens lifted their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target 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 research 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.67.

Insider Activity at Ameris Bancorp

In other Ameris Bancorp news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total value of $559,280.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. This trade represents a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 2.9 %

ABCB traded up $2.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $71.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 417,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 414,888. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96 and a beta of 1.01. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $41.00 and a twelve month high of $72.68. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $64.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Ameris Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 12.50%.

Ameris Bancorp 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.