New York State Common Retirement Fund Boosts Stake in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 276,624 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 18,090 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.40% of Ameris Bancorp worth $14,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 16,791 shares of the bank's stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,765 shares of the bank's stock valued at $720,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,565 shares of the bank's stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Argent Trust Co lifted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 21,500 shares of the bank's stock valued at $825,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,344 shares of the bank's stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ABCB shares. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, January 15th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameris Bancorp news, insider Jon S. Edwards sold 7,500 shares of the business's 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 sale, the insider now owns 59,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,826,368.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 5.60% of the company's stock.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ABCB traded down $1.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $47.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 301,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 380,407. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.04. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $28.33 and a fifty-two week high of $53.99. The business's 50 day moving average price is $46.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.34. The company has a market cap of $3.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 1.05.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $267.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $258.05 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 18.06% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 8th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Ameris Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.60%.

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.