OP Asset Management Ltd Acquires New Stake in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 22,434 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,750,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,199,365 shares of the bank’s stock worth $238,250,000 after buying an additional 12,475 shares during the period. North Reef Capital Management LP boosted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 38.2% in the 4th quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 2,737,028 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $203,279,000 after buying an additional 755,967 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,741,214 shares of the bank’s stock worth $129,320,000 after acquiring an additional 414,920 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,258,436 shares of the bank’s stock worth $92,256,000 after acquiring an additional 39,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC increased its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 1,083,272 shares of the bank’s stock worth $80,455,000 after acquiring an additional 14,735 shares during the period. 91.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of ABCB stock opened at $90.92 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50 day moving average is $85.59 and its 200 day moving average is $81.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Ameris Bancorp has a 52-week low of $64.30 and a 52-week high of $91.41.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $1.63 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $309.58 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 21.46%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 12.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABCB has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ameris Bancorp to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $92.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $96.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.17.

About Ameris Bancorp

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.