Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Stock

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $82.00 to $88.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 8.90% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson set a $94.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Monday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Stephens lifted their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler set a $84.00 price objective on Ameris Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.50.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ABCB traded up $0.19 during trading on Monday, reaching $80.81. The company had a trading volume of 175,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 489,631. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $48.27 and a twelve month high of $83.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $77.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.92.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.03. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 21.46%.The company had revenue of $309.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, October 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the bank to purchase up to 4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ameris Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ABCB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,624,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 134.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 931,911 shares of the bank’s stock worth $68,318,000 after acquiring an additional 534,830 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 67.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,218,958 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,867,000 after buying an additional 490,602 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,214 shares of the bank’s stock worth $129,320,000 after buying an additional 414,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 98,682.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 351,666 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,780,000 after purchasing an additional 351,310 shares in the last quarter. 91.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.