Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stake in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 4.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,263,487 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,473 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $78,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABCB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,560,371 shares of the bank’s stock worth $365,771,000 after acquiring an additional 92,491 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,374,719 shares of the bank’s stock worth $220,263,000 after acquiring an additional 45,240 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,533,580 shares of the bank’s stock worth $127,566,000 after acquiring an additional 19,287 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 851,240 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,860,000 after purchasing an additional 13,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 809,338 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,495,000 after purchasing an additional 19,506 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameris Bancorp news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total value of $559,280.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,918,610.04. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 5.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ABCB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Raymond James raised Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com raised Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stephens upped their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.67.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

ABCB stock opened at $69.70 on Friday. Ameris Bancorp has a 12-month low of $38.71 and a 12-month high of $71.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.07. The firm has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.52 and a beta of 1.01.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.13. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 20.08%. The firm had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.60 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.50%.

About Ameris Bancorp

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.