Vestcor Inc Purchases 12,481 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Vestcor Inc raised its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 579.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,635 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 12,481 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,263,487 shares of the bank’s stock worth $78,829,000 after acquiring an additional 55,473 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Ameris Bancorp by 13.9% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 21,107 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,317,000 after purchasing an additional 2,575 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 135.5% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 115,194 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,187,000 after purchasing an additional 66,287 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Ameris Bancorp by 32.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 142,122 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,867,000 after buying an additional 34,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC raised its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 208.0% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 83,393 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,203,000 after buying an additional 56,320 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameris Bancorp

In other news, insider Douglas D. Strange acquired 1,000 shares of Ameris Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $56.95 per share, with a total value of $56,950.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 19,403 shares in the company, valued at $1,105,000.85. The trade was a 5.43 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ABCB shares. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $71.00 price target (up from $67.00) on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.50.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of ABCB opened at $57.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Ameris Bancorp has a 1 year low of $44.22 and a 1 year high of $74.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.08.

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. This is a boost from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.36%.

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.