Foundry Partners LLC Buys 38,650 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Foundry Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 53.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 110,911 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 38,650 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC owned 0.16% of Ameris Bancorp worth $6,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABCB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ameris Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,380,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 189.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 502,690 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,940,000 after purchasing an additional 329,196 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 30.7% during 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 during the period. North Reef Capital Management LP increased its stake in 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 valued at $158,490,000 after buying an additional 208,000 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 150.3% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 288,300 shares of the bank's stock valued at $18,039,000 after buying an additional 173,106 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Down 0.1%

ABCB traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $67.34. The company had a trading volume of 226,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 399,294. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $63.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.31. 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 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 has a 12-month low of $48.27 and a 12-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 for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on ABCB shares. Raymond James Financial lowered 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. Piper Sandler Companies lifted their target price on Ameris Bancorp to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Ameris Bancorp in a report on Friday, April 4th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and set a $63.00 target price 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.43.

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.