Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Decreases Stake in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH cut its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 15.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 384,699 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 69,470 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $30,003,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABCB. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 10,464 shares of the bank’s stock worth $816,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,223,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $216,000. OP Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $1,750,000. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the first quarter valued at $202,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.60% of the company’s stock.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ ABCB opened at $90.92 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $85.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.40. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $64.30 and a fifty-two week high of $91.41.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $314.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $309.58 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 21.46%.During the same period last year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $96.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.17.

Ameris Bancorp Profile

Ameris Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its principal subsidiary, Ameris Bank, the company offers a broad range of commercial and retail banking services to individuals, small businesses, middle market companies and agricultural customers. Its core business lines encompass deposit services, lending solutions, treasury management, mortgage origination and servicing, insurance products and wealth management.

Ameris Bancorp operates a network of branches and loan production offices across the southeastern United States, including Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.