Amundi Raises Holdings in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Amundi grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 65.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,067 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,773 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $1,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ABCB. Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,667,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,214 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $129,320,000 after buying an additional 414,920 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 271,568 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,169,000 after buying an additional 26,320 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,262,000. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc purchased a new stake in Ameris Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,427,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ABCB shares. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley raised Ameris Bancorp to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Stephens set a $88.00 price objective on Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut Ameris Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.67.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:ABCB opened at $87.79 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $88.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market capitalization of $5.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85 and a beta of 0.92. Ameris Bancorp has a 52-week low of $65.98 and a 52-week high of $93.22.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.66 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $317.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $323.78 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 21.46%.During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.59 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.47%.

Ameris Bancorp Profile

Ameris Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its principal subsidiary, Ameris Bank, the company offers a broad range of commercial and retail banking services to individuals, small businesses, middle market companies and agricultural customers. Its core business lines encompass deposit services, lending solutions, treasury management, mortgage origination and servicing, insurance products and wealth management.

Ameris Bancorp operates a network of branches and loan production offices across the southeastern United States, including Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.