ATLANTA, Sept. 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Ameris Bancorp
(Nasdaq: ABCB) (the "Company") announced today that its board of
directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, reflecting an increase of
5 cents, or 50%, over the previous
quarter's dividend. The dividend is payable on October 10, 2019 to shareholders of record on
September 30, 2019.
The board of directors also approved a new share repurchase
program authorizing the Company to repurchase up to $100 million of its outstanding common stock.
Repurchases of shares, which are authorized to occur through
October 31, 2020, will be made in
accordance with applicable securities laws and may be made from
time to time in the open market or by negotiated transactions. The
amount and timing of repurchases will be based on a variety of
factors, including share acquisition price, regulatory limitations
and other market and economic factors. The program does not
require the repurchase of any specific number of shares. It
replaces the Company's prior share repurchase program which was set
to expire in October 2019 and under
which the Company repurchased $10.6
million of its outstanding common stock in the past
year.
H. Palmer Proctor, Jr., the
Company's Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are proud of our
ability to grow cash returns for our shareholders with this
dividend increase. In addition, the stock repurchase plan provides
us another tool to manage our capital and enhance long-term
shareholder value and reflects our confidence in the continued
strength of the Company's performance and balance sheet."
Ameris Bancorp
Ameris Bancorp is a bank holding company headquartered
in Moultrie, Georgia and the
parent of Ameris Bank, a
Georgia state-chartered bank.
Ameris Bank currently has 175
branches in Georgia, Alabama, Florida and South Carolina.
Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking
Information
This news release contains statements that constitute
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The words "believe",
"estimate", "expect", "intend", "anticipate" and similar
expressions and variations thereof identify certain of such
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on
which they were made. The forward-looking statements in this news
release are based on current expectations and are provided to
assist in the understanding of potential future performance.
Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are
not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and
uncertainties and that actual results may differ materially from
those indicated in the forward-looking statements as a result of
various factors, including, without limitation, the following:
general competitive, economic, political and market conditions and
fluctuations, including, without limitation, movements in interest
rates; competitive pressures on product pricing and services; the
Company's ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses or
to do so on a timely basis; expected cost savings and any revenue
synergies from acquisition transactions may not be fully realized
within the expected timeframes; and the success and timing of other
business strategies. For a discussion of some of the other risks
and other factors that may cause such forward-looking statements to
differ materially from actual results, please refer to the
Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2018 and subsequently
filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form
8-K. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are
made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update
or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise.
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SOURCE Ameris Bancorp