JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 60,448 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 728,253 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 60,448 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $45,436,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 15.0% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,125 shares of the bank’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 22,953 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,787 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 13,418 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,359 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $924,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 10,026 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 1,404 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameris Bancorp

In related news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of Ameris Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total transaction of $559,280.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,918,610.04. This trade represents a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ABCB. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Raymond James raised Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.17.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $61.92 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.61 and its 200 day moving average is $61.36. Ameris Bancorp has a one year low of $44.00 and a one year high of $74.56. The firm has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

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

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.20 dividend. This is a boost from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.67%.

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.