Peregrine Capital Management LLC Sells 56,206 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Peregrine Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 24.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 170,831 shares of the bank's stock after selling 56,206 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC owned about 0.25% of Ameris Bancorp worth $9,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,256,044 shares of the bank's stock worth $375,166,000 after purchasing an additional 91,407 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,346,699 shares of the bank's stock worth $328,470,000 after purchasing an additional 158,489 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,201,328 shares of the bank's stock worth $228,235,000 after purchasing an additional 358,777 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,897,720 shares of the bank's stock worth $171,622,000 after purchasing an additional 488,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,547,134 shares of the bank's stock worth $97,784,000 after purchasing an additional 90,694 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of ABCB stock traded down $2.43 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $45.29. 351,236 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 402,021. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 1.05. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $46.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.52. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $28.33 and a twelve month high of $53.99.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.12 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $262.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.23 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.30% and a net margin of 17.67%. As a group, analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 8th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Ameris Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABCB has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, January 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $50.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameris Bancorp news, insider Jon S. Edwards sold 7,500 shares of Ameris Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.35, for a total value of $355,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,691 shares in the company, valued at $2,826,368.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.