Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.20

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 19th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of 0.20 per share by the bank on Monday, January 6th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15.

Ameris Bancorp has a payout ratio of 11.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ameris Bancorp to earn $4.98 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 12.0%.

Ameris Bancorp Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ ABCB traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $61.95. The stock had a trading volume of 412,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 365,276. The firm has a market cap of $4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 1.03. Ameris Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $44.00 and a fifty-two week high of $74.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.00.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $424.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $290.60 million. Ameris Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.18% and a net margin of 20.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total value of $559,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,918,610.04. The trade was a 22.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABCB. StockNews.com raised Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Ameris Bancorp from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Ameris Bancorp from $73.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ameris Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.17.

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.