Trust Co. of Oklahoma Takes $600,000 Position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Trust Co. of Oklahoma acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 9,591 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 38.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,130 shares of the bank's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $98,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,868 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 105.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,696 shares of the bank's stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 completion of 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ABCB shares. 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 report on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens raised 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $69.17.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of ABCB traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $64.19. The stock had a trading volume of 365,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 407,840. The firm has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.52. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $44.22 and a twelve month high of $74.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 20.08%. The business had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Ameris Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Ameris Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.67%.

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.