Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Shares Acquired by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 863,294 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 12,054 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 1.25% of Ameris Bancorp worth $53,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,869,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 164.8% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 119,164 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,765,000 after buying an additional 74,165 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,263,487 shares of the bank's stock valued at $78,829,000 after buying an additional 55,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,462,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABCB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased 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 report on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $66.67.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

Ameris Bancorp stock traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $69.25. 152,015 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 364,310. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.83 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average of $63.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.64. Ameris Bancorp has a 12 month low of $40.71 and a 12 month high of $72.68. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Ameris Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 12.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameris Bancorp

In other Ameris Bancorp 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 sale, the director now owns 27,444 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. The trade was a 22.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 5.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.