136,058 Shares in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Bought by Emerald Advisers LLC

Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 136,058 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $7,833,000. Emerald Advisers LLC owned about 0.20% of Ameris Bancorp as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 2,436.8% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 482 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 84.1% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 731 shares of the bank's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 836.7% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the bank's stock valued at $132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Optimum Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $128,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABCB. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. 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. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Friday, April 4th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.43.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:ABCB traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $67.30. 398,306 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 402,793. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Ameris Bancorp has a 1 year low of $48.27 and a 1 year high of $74.56. The company has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $62.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.17.

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

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. 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.