UBS Group AG Acquires 33,935 Shares of Amerant Bancorp Inc. $AMTB

UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:AMTB) by 35.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 130,932 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,935 shares during the period. UBS Group AG owned approximately 0.32% of Amerant Bancorp worth $2,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Amerant Bancorp in the third quarter worth $32,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Amerant Bancorp by 11.8% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Amerant Bancorp in the second quarter worth $129,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Amerant Bancorp in the third quarter worth $143,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Amerant Bancorp by 60.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,819 shares during the last quarter. 42.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Amerant Bancorp Price Performance

AMTB stock opened at $22.88 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.22. Amerant Bancorp Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.62 and a 12-month high of $24.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $900.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.01. Amerant Bancorp had a net margin of 8.83% and a return on equity of 8.59%. The firm had revenue of $177.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $102.56 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Amerant Bancorp Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Amerant Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Amerant Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 25.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on AMTB shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Amerant Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Amerant Bancorp from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Amerant Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Amerant Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.67.

Amerant Bancorp Company Profile

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.