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

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 18th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Ameris Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15.

Ameris Bancorp has a dividend payout ratio of 11.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Ameris Bancorp stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $61.95. The stock had a trading volume of 412,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 366,092. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Ameris Bancorp has a 1 year low of $44.00 and a 1 year high of $74.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.00.

Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.13. Ameris Bancorp had a net margin of 20.08% and a return on equity of 9.18%. The firm had revenue of $424.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.60 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ameris Bancorp will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of 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 target price 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. StockNews.com raised Ameris Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Ameris Bancorp from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Ameris Bancorp from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.17.

Insider Activity at Ameris Bancorp

In other Ameris Bancorp news, Director Robert Dale Ezzell sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.91, for a total transaction of $559,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,918,610.04. This trade represents a 22.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.