Montag A & Associates Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Montag A & Associates Inc. lessened its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,163 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 358 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $1,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $334,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 16.2% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,188 shares of the bank’s stock worth $506,000 after buying an additional 1,834 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 2.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 29,493 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,132,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Creek Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 0.4% in the third quarter. Summit Creek Advisors LLC now owns 294,563 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $47.35, for a total value of $355,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on 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 research note on Monday, January 15th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.00.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of ABCB traded up $0.44 on Thursday, hitting $50.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 242,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 373,245. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $28.39 and a fifty-two week high of $53.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $47.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.86.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.06. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 18.06%. The firm had revenue of $267.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.05 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.86 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is 14.60%.

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.