Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $71.78 Million Stock Position in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 966,464 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 16,490 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $71,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,231 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 6,294 shares of the bank’s stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 51.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 547 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.0% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,730 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EJF Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3.5% in the third quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 5,754 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.17.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $86.36 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.37. 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 12 month low of $59.54 and a 12 month high of $87.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 0.93.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $314.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.58 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 21.46%.During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.58%.

About Ameris Bancorp

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.