EntryPoint Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 10,574 Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Key Points

• EntryPoint Capital LLC has acquired a stake in Ameris Bancorp, purchasing 10,574 shares valued at approximately $609,000 during the first quarter.
• Ameris Bancorp announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $0.80 and a yield of 1.1%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Ameris Bancorp, with six analysts rating it a Buy and one rating it a Hold, giving an average target price of $72.14.

EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,574 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $609,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABCB. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 7.3% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,479 shares of the bank's stock worth $776,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 53.5% during the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 110,911 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,385,000 after purchasing an additional 38,650 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 8.8% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,251 shares of the bank's stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $590,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the first quarter worth about $517,000. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ABCB. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. DA Davidson set a $81.00 target price on Ameris Bancorp and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.14.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 4.3%

Ameris Bancorp stock traded up $2.9860 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $72.0760. The stock had a trading volume of 837,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 428,596. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $66.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.14. Ameris Bancorp has a 1-year low of $48.27 and a 1-year high of $74.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Ameris Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 14.08%.

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.