Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:AMTB)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a strong sell rating to a hold rating. The company traded as high as $24.50 and last traded at $24.3140, with a volume of 4611 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.81.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on AMTB. Weiss Ratings raised Amerant Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Amerant Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMTB. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 83.0% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $466,000 after purchasing an additional 10,249 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Amerant Bancorp by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $454,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Amerant Bancorp by 6.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 91,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after buying an additional 5,434 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Amerant Bancorp by 1.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 35,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp during the second quarter worth $275,000. Institutional investors own 42.11% of the company’s stock.

Amerant Bancorp Trading Up 1.0%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.01. The stock has a market cap of $980.88 million, a P/E ratio of 17.68 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.01. Amerant Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.59% and a net margin of 8.83%.The company had revenue of $177.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $102.56 million. As a group, analysts expect that Amerant Bancorp Inc. will post 1.79 EPS for the current year.

Amerant Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Amerant Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.53%.

About Amerant Bancorp

Amerant Bancorp is the bank holding company and parent of Amerant Bank, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida. Amerant Bank delivers a comprehensive range of deposit and lending products to both retail and commercial clients, including checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, consumer mortgages, and business lines of credit. In addition, the company offers specialized services such as treasury management, international trade finance, foreign exchange, and asset-based lending to support the complex needs of corporate and high-net-worth customers.

Tracing its roots to the early 1980s, Amerant has grown through a combination of strategic acquisitions and organic expansion.