GW&K Investment Management LLC Sells 68,862 Shares of Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

GW&K Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 663,330 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 68,862 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $48,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 3.0% in the third quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,231 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,183 shares of the bank’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 51.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 547 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,095 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,730 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $724,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. 91.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $94.00 price objective on Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.50.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of ABCB opened at $79.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 0.97. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $48.27 and a twelve month high of $87.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $80.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.23.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $309.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.48 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 21.46% and a return on equity of 9.57%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.33%.

Ameris Bancorp Company 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.