Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Buys 4,592 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Free Report) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,853 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 4,592 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.08% of Ameris Bancorp worth $3,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Ameris Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,107,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 164.5% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 26,783 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,671,000 after purchasing an additional 16,657 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 22,487 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 94.3% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 32,637 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,042,000 after purchasing an additional 15,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 39,945 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,499,000 after buying an additional 2,179 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABCB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler Companies upped their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Raymond James reduced their price target 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 assumed coverage on Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday, April 4th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $71.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ameris Bancorp news, insider Douglas D. Strange bought 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $56.95 per share, with a total value of $56,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,403 shares in the company, valued at $1,105,000.85. This represents a 5.43 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ABCB traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $60.43. 185,185 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 397,208. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business's fifty day moving average price is $56.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.39. The company has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 0.91. Ameris Bancorp has a 12-month low of $45.89 and a 12-month high of $74.56.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The bank reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $285.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $276.06 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 21.46% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The firm's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Ameris Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.81%.

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.