In a report published by Fig Partners, analyst Christopher Marinac initiated coverage on Ameris Bancorp ABCB with an Outperform rating and $17.50 price target.
Fig partners reported that, “We feel that ABCB-Ameris Bancorp is on the cusp of superb expansion of tangible book value
per share and accelerating EPS via recent efforts to reduce overhead coupled with lower
credit costs and a final payoff of preferred capital (a.k.a., former TARP that was sold to secondary
market investors—$28 Million out of the $52 Mil. original issue remains). During the economic
and credit downturn from 2008 to 2011, ABCB repositioned itself with a series of small FDICassisted
transactions that generated capital from bargain purchase gains under GAAP accounting
which we redeployed into resolving problem credits. Now that the credit portfolio has seen a
sharply reduced ratio of Classified Assets-to-Tier 1 Capital+Reserves, ABCB is poised for greater
success from organic expansion, increased generation of excess tangible capital, and new opportunities
for external mergers to build longer-term shareholder value.”
Shares of Ameris Bancorp closed at $40.47 on Friday.
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