Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Shares Acquired by iSAM Funds UK Ltd

iSAM Funds UK Ltd increased its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 43.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,911 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares during the quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,503 shares of the bank’s stock worth $780,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,130 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,359 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $924,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ABCB shares. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company 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 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com raised Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.17.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ ABCB opened at $69.39 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $65.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.98. The company has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 1.03. Ameris Bancorp has a 12-month low of $44.00 and a 12-month high of $74.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 20.08%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameris Bancorp

In related news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of Ameris Bancorp 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 sale, the director now owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. The trade was a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.