Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 549,740 shares of the bank's stock after selling 11,205 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.80% of Ameris Bancorp worth $31,649,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABCB. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $1,585,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $2,016,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 188.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 33,579 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,055,000 after acquiring an additional 21,957 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,977 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,062,000 after acquiring an additional 3,244 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $552,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ABCB. Piper Sandler Companies raised their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Friday, April 4th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $74.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut 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 note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.43.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ ABCB traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $67.34. 226,882 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 398,887. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.32. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $48.27 and a twelve month high of $74.56.

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

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 7th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Ameris Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 14.81%.

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.