Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) released its earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.04, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $267.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.05 million. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 8.30%. The company’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ABCB traded up $1.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $48.53. The company had a trading volume of 97,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 376,168. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $46.59 and its 200 day moving average is $46.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.05. Ameris Bancorp has a twelve month low of $28.33 and a twelve month high of $53.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Ameris Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.38%.

Insider Transactions at Ameris Bancorp

In related news, insider Jon S. Edwards sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.35, for a total transaction of $355,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,826,368.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABCB shares. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Monday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned 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 “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.25.

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.