Northern Trust Corp Has $44.52 Million Position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 711,481 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 51,178 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.03% of Ameris Bancorp worth $44,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,880 shares of the bank's stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,887 shares of the bank's stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 14,020 shares of the bank's stock worth $877,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,174 shares of the bank's stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameris Bancorp

In other Ameris Bancorp news, insider Douglas D. Strange bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $56.95 per share, with a total value of $56,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,105,000.85. This represents a 5.43% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company's stock.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ABCB traded down $0.11 on Wednesday, reaching $63.48. 38,668 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 398,545. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $45.89 and a fifty-two week high of $74.56. The company's 50 day moving average is $56.44 and its 200-day moving average is $62.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 0.91. 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 (NASDAQ:ABCB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The bank reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 21.46%. The company had revenue of $285.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $276.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Ameris Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.