First Eagle Investment Management LLC Cuts Position in Ameris Bancorp $ABCB

First Eagle Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 181,558 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,225 shares during the quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned 0.26% of Ameris Bancorp worth $11,747,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 73.2% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 492 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Ameris Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $68,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Ameris Bancorp by 52.5% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,777 shares of the bank’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 8.3% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,346 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Ameris Bancorp by 1,120.2% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,904 shares of the bank’s stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 2,666 shares during the period. 91.60% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ABCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. DA Davidson raised Ameris Bancorp to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $73.00) on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $84.00 target price on Ameris Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.33.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Ameris Bancorp stock opened at $73.61 on Friday. Ameris Bancorp has a 1 year low of $48.27 and a 1 year high of $76.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $73.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.67. The company has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.13 and a beta of 1.04.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is 13.84%.

Ameris Bancorp announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, October 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the bank to buy up to 4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.