US Bancorp DE Raises Stock Position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 47.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,842 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 919 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Ameris Bancorp were worth $178,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABCB. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the third quarter worth approximately $349,000. Entropy Technologies LP raised its position in Ameris Bancorp by 29.0% in the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 8,007 shares of the bank’s stock worth $500,000 after acquiring an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Ameris Bancorp in the third quarter worth approximately $232,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Ameris Bancorp by 2.8% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 23,599 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,472,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Ameris Bancorp by 5.0% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 62,566 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,903,000 after acquiring an additional 3,005 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ameris Bancorp

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ABCB. 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. 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. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.50.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ABCB opened at $57.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $63.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.08. Ameris Bancorp has a 52-week low of $44.22 and a 52-week high of $74.56.

Ameris Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 15.36%.

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.