StockNews.com Upgrades Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) to “Hold”

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on ABCB. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Monday, January 15th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.00.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ABCB traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $48.50. 421,219 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 381,355. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.05. 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 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $267.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.05 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 18.06% and a return on equity of 8.62%. Ameris Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABCB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,467,880 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $396,171,000 after acquiring an additional 33,386 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,193,610 shares of the bank’s stock worth $222,473,000 after purchasing an additional 205,750 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $97,784,000 after buying an additional 90,694 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,514,293 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $133,383,000 after buying an additional 201,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 3.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,254,903 shares of the bank’s stock worth $60,712,000 after acquiring an additional 36,873 shares in the last quarter. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameris Bancorp Company 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.