Piper Sandler Raises Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Price Target to $57.00

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) had its price objective raised by Piper Sandler from $55.00 to $57.00 in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on ABCB. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com cut Ameris Bancorp from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a buy rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Monday, January 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $52.00.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

ABCB stock opened at $48.03 on Monday. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $28.33 and a twelve month high of $53.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average is $46.63 and its 200-day moving average is $46.41.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $267.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.05 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 18.06%. The company’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 8th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.60%.

Insider Transactions at Ameris Bancorp

In other news, insider Jon S. Edwards sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.35, for a total value of $355,125.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 59,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,826,368.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ABCB. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $203,000. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $205,000. Xponance Inc. acquired a new stake in Ameris Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $218,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.