Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Shares Sold by New York Life Investment Management LLC

New York Life Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,440 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 278 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABCB. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 11.1% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,565 shares of the bank’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. KLR Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the third quarter worth about $209,000. Xponance Inc. acquired a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $211,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Ameris Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $218,000. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABCB. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Monday, January 15th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.00.

Insider Activity at Ameris Bancorp

In related news, insider Jon S. Edwards sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.35, for a total transaction of $355,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,826,368.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of ABCB opened at $50.07 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $47.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.86. Ameris Bancorp has a 12-month low of $28.39 and a 12-month high of $53.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 1.04.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.06. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 18.06% and a return on equity of 8.62%. The business had revenue of $267.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $258.05 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 14.60%.

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.