Peregrine Capital Management LLC Has $5.56 Million Stake in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Peregrine Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 3.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 85,941 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,880 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $5,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABCB. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,107 shares of the bank’s stock worth $409,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,346 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,535 shares of the bank’s stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 24,303 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,572,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 73.2% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 492 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.83.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of ABCB opened at $74.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.12 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32 and a beta of 0.94. Ameris Bancorp has a one year low of $48.27 and a one year high of $76.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $73.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.50.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The bank reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.07. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 21.46% and a return on equity of 9.57%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 14.08%.

Ameris Bancorp announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, October 20th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the bank to buy up to 4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.