4,587 Shares in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Purchased by GTS Securities LLC

GTS Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,587 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $287,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. North Reef Capital Management LP increased 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 purchasing an additional 208,000 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 30.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 952,058 shares of the bank's stock worth $59,570,000 after purchasing an additional 223,805 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 917,396 shares of the bank's stock worth $57,401,000 after buying an additional 10,256 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 821,554 shares of the bank's stock worth $51,405,000 after buying an additional 12,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 789,271 shares of the bank's stock valued at $49,385,000 after buying an additional 19,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on ABCB shares. Piper Sandler Companies boosted their price target on Ameris Bancorp to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James reduced their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler started 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.43.

Insider Transactions at Ameris Bancorp

In other news, insider Douglas D. Strange bought 1,000 shares of Ameris Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $56.95 per share, for a total transaction of $56,950.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 19,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,105,000.85. This trade represents a 5.43% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 5.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

ABCB stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $61.73. The stock had a trading volume of 358,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 405,946. Ameris Bancorp has a 52 week low of $45.90 and a 52 week high of $74.56. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Ameris Bancorp's dividend 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.