Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Shares Bought by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,821 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 8,086 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned 0.11% of Ameris Bancorp worth $4,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,880 shares of the bank's stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,975 shares of the bank's stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,887 shares of the bank's stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 14,020 shares of the bank's stock valued at $877,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,174 shares of the bank's stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Douglas D. Strange acquired 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $56.95 per share, with a total value of $56,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,105,000.85. This represents a 5.43% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ ABCB opened at $63.44 on Monday. Ameris Bancorp has a 12 month low of $45.89 and a 12 month high of $74.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.91. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $56.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.40.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The bank reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $285.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $276.06 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 21.46% and a return on equity of 9.57%. Ameris Bancorp's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Ameris Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 14.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler Companies increased their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Friday, April 4th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.43.

Ameris Bancorp 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.

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