Hancock Whitney Corp Invests $466,000 in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB)

Hancock Whitney Corp bought a new position in Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,638 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $466,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ameris Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $3,869,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Ameris Bancorp by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 416,557 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,153,000 after acquiring an additional 178,500 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Ameris Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $1,154,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 276,624 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,675,000 after purchasing an additional 18,090 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its stake in Ameris Bancorp by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 767,156 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,115,000 after purchasing an additional 40,323 shares during the period. 91.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on ABCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $52.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $54.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $61.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.20.

Ameris Bancorp Stock Performance

Ameris Bancorp stock traded down $2.29 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $58.60. The company had a trading volume of 222,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 365,169. The firm has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of 13.55 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Ameris Bancorp has a one year low of $34.26 and a one year high of $64.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $51.44 and a 200 day moving average of $49.19.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.03. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 19.28% and a return on equity of 8.97%. The firm had revenue of $436.03 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $273.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Ameris Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 30th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is 14.60%.

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.