Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:AMTB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $26.21 and last traded at $26.0890, with a volume of 83522 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $25.52.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AMTB. Zacks Research raised Amerant Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Amerant Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Amerant Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.67.

Amerant Bancorp Stock Up 2.3%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.21 and a 200-day moving average of $22.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.52 and a beta of 0.90.

Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $177.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $102.56 million. Amerant Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.59% and a net margin of 8.83%. Equities research analysts predict that Amerant Bancorp Inc. will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amerant Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is presently 25.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amerant Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMTB. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 149.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Amerant Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $78,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings 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 valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $129,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $143,000. 42.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.