Jennison Associates LLC Purchases 329,196 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 189.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 502,690 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 329,196 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.73% of Ameris Bancorp worth $28,940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. North Reef Capital Management LP raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 2,533,000 shares of the bank's stock valued at $158,490,000 after purchasing an additional 208,000 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 952,058 shares of the bank's stock worth $59,570,000 after buying an additional 223,805 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 933,493 shares of the bank's stock worth $53,741,000 after buying an additional 111,939 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ameris Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,380,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 711,481 shares of the bank's stock worth $44,517,000 after buying an additional 51,178 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ABCB traded up $0.63 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.31. The company had a trading volume of 55,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 397,606. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.31. 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 0.93.

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

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 7th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Ameris Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.