Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.06 EPS

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) released its earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.06, Yahoo Finance reports. The company had revenue of $267.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $258.05 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.62% and a net margin of 18.06%. Ameris Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 EPS.

Ameris Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of Ameris Bancorp stock traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $48.50. 421,219 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 381,355. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.27. Ameris Bancorp has a 52 week low of $28.33 and a 52 week high of $53.99. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Ameris Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 8th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 31st were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Ameris Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 14.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ameris Bancorp news, insider Jon S. Edwards sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.35, for a total value of $355,125.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,691 shares in the company, valued at $2,826,368.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABCB has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.00.

Ameris Bancorp Company 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.