Inspire Investing LLC Sells 205 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Inspire Investing LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,425 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 205 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABCB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 907,140 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,596,000 after purchasing an additional 79,060 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 107.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 140,001 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,735,000 after acquiring an additional 72,599 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 135.5% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 115,194 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,187,000 after acquiring an additional 66,287 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 2,768.5% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 68,384 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,292,000 after acquiring an additional 66,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 728,253 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,436,000 after purchasing an additional 60,448 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Up 0.2 %

ABCB stock opened at $64.35 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $65.55 and a 200 day moving average of $62.72. The firm has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41 and a beta of 1.06. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $44.22 and a twelve month high of $74.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 20.08%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is 16.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on ABCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens upped their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.17.

Insider Activity at Ameris Bancorp

In related news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total transaction of $559,280.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,918,610.04. This trade represents a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 5.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.