Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust Increases Stock Position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 1,106.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,607 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 49,165 shares during the quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust owned 0.08% of Ameris Bancorp worth $3,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,380,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 952,058 shares of the bank's stock valued at $59,570,000 after buying an additional 223,805 shares in the last quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 2,533,000 shares of the bank's stock worth $158,490,000 after acquiring an additional 208,000 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 150.3% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 288,300 shares of the bank's stock worth $18,039,000 after acquiring an additional 173,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 136.2% during the fourth quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 196,964 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,324,000 after acquiring an additional 113,571 shares during the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ABCB shares. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Friday, April 4th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies upped their target price on Ameris Bancorp to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.43.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

ABCB traded down $2.59 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $65.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 396,625 shares, compared to its average volume of 402,437. The company has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 0.93. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.15. Ameris Bancorp has a 1 year low of $48.27 and a 1 year high of $74.56. 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 (NASDAQ:ABCB - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 21.46% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $285.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $276.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Ameris Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.81%.

Ameris Bancorp Company 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.