FJ Capital Management LLC Sells 211,561 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

FJ Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 52.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 190,948 shares of the bank's stock after selling 211,561 shares during the quarter. Ameris Bancorp accounts for 1.4% of FJ Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. FJ Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.28% of Ameris Bancorp worth $11,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2,436.8% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 482 shares of the bank's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 56.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,113 shares of the bank's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,332 shares of the bank's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 167.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,431 shares of the bank's stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 896 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameris Bancorp

In other news, insider Douglas D. Strange acquired 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $56.95 per share, with a total value of $56,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,105,000.85. The trade was a 5.43% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on ABCB. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $71.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler Companies raised their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Friday, April 4th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stephens restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $71.43.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Down 0.4%

ABCB stock traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $60.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 185,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 398,651. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $45.89 and a twelve month high of $74.56. The company's fifty day moving average price is $56.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 0.91.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The bank reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $276.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.32%. Ameris Bancorp's 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.