Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.72 Million in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 32,500 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,724,000.

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

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of ABCB traded up $1.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $46.28. 295,641 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 285,536. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $28.33 and a fifty-two week high of $53.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $46.56 and a 200-day moving average of $45.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.87 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Ameris Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Ameris Bancorp

In other news, insider Jon S. Edwards sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.35, for a total transaction 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 SEC, which is available at this link. 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.