Stephens Reiterates Equal Weight Rating for Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reiterated by analysts at Stephens in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $53.00 target price on the bank’s stock. Stephens’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 10.69% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Ameris Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Monday, January 15th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.25.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $47.88 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $46.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.22. Ameris Bancorp has a one year low of $28.33 and a one year high of $53.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 1.05.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.04. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 18.06%. The company had revenue of $267.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $258.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ameris Bancorp

In related news, insider Jon S. Edwards sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,826,368.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,565 shares of the bank’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 456 shares during the period. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $205,000. Finally, KLR Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $209,000. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ameris Bancorp

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.