Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 96.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,388 shares of the bank's stock after selling 65,996 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABCB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $48,380,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 223,805 shares in the last quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 8.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 208,000 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased 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 valued at $18,039,000 after acquiring an additional 173,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 136.2% during the 4th quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 196,964 shares of the bank's stock worth $12,324,000 after purchasing an additional 113,571 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABCB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler Companies increased their target price on Ameris Bancorp to $74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Ameris Bancorp in a report on Friday, April 4th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ameris Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $71.43.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Ameris Bancorp stock traded down $0.67 on Monday, reaching $66.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 251,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 398,703. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 0.93. The business's fifty day moving average price is $63.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.31. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $48.27 and a twelve month high of $74.56.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $285.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $276.06 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 21.46%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 7th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. Ameris Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.81%.

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.