The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 24,571 Shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 453,642 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 24,571 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.66% of Ameris Bancorp worth $28,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ameris Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 66.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 249.5% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 713 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 33.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 3,396.4% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 1,868 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Down 0.9 %

ABCB stock opened at $70.28 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $65.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.10. The stock has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 1.01. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $42.25 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 12.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameris Bancorp

In other Ameris Bancorp news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total transaction of $559,280.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABCB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens lifted their price objective on Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Raymond James upgraded Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.67.

About Ameris Bancorp

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.