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Ameris Bancorp (NYSE:ABCB) shareholders have seen the share price descend 13% over the month. But in stark contrast, the returns over the last half decade have impressed. It's fair to say most would be happy with 203% the gain in that time. Generally speaking the long term returns will give you a better idea of business quality than short periods can. Ultimately business performance will determine whether the stock price continues the positive long term trend.
So let's assess the underlying fundamentals over the last 5 years and see if they've moved in lock-step with shareholder returns.
See our latest analysis for Ameris Bancorp
While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).
Over half a decade, Ameris Bancorp managed to grow its earnings per share at 14% a year. This EPS growth is lower than the 25% average annual increase in the share price. This suggests that market participants hold the company in higher regard, these days. And that's hardly shocking given the track record of growth.
The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
We know that Ameris Bancorp has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? You could check out this free report showing analyst revenue forecasts.
What About Dividends?
As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. We note that for Ameris Bancorp the TSR over the last 5 years was 227%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.
A Different Perspective
It's nice to see that Ameris Bancorp shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 26% over the last year. That's including the dividend. However, that falls short of the 27% TSR per annum it has made for shareholders, each year, over five years. If you would like to research Ameris Bancorp in more detail then you might want to take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in the company.