Critical Survey: John Marshall Bancorp (NASDAQ:JMSB) vs. Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB)

John Marshall Bancorp (NASDAQ:JMSB) and Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability and institutional ownership.

Risk & Volatility

John Marshall Bancorp has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amerant Bancorp has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

39.1% of John Marshall Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.1% of Amerant Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 12.6% of John Marshall Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Amerant Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares John Marshall Bancorp and Amerant Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
John Marshall Bancorp	20.41%	9.16%	1.04%
Amerant Bancorp	8.76%	8.30%	0.76%

Dividends

John Marshall Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Amerant Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. John Marshall Bancorp pays out 23.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Amerant Bancorp pays out 25.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. John Marshall Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for John Marshall Bancorp and Amerant Bancorp, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
John Marshall Bancorp	1	0	2	1	2.75
Amerant Bancorp	0	3	3	0	2.50

John Marshall Bancorp currently has a consensus price target of $25.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.17%. Amerant Bancorp has a consensus price target of $27.75, indicating a potential downside of 4.40%. Given John Marshall Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe John Marshall Bancorp is more favorable than Amerant Bancorp.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares John Marshall Bancorp and Amerant Bancorp”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
John Marshall Bancorp	$115.33 million	2.80	$21.23 million	$1.73	13.24
Amerant Bancorp	$676.04 million	1.68	$52.42 million	$1.39	20.88

Amerant Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than John Marshall Bancorp. John Marshall Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Amerant Bancorp, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

John Marshall Bancorp beats Amerant Bancorp on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About John Marshall Bancorp

John Marshall Bancorp, Inc. is the bank holding company for John Marshall Bank. The Bank is headquartered in Reston, Virginia with eight full-service branches located in Alexandria, Arlington, Loudoun, Prince William, Reston, and Tysons, Virginia, as well as Rockville, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. The Bank is dedicated to providing exceptional value, personalized service and convenience to local businesses and professionals in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area. The Bank offers a comprehensive line of sophisticated banking products and services that rival those of the largest banks along with experienced staff to help achieve customers’ financial goals. Dedicated relationship managers serve as direct points-of-contact, providing subject matter expertise in a variety of niche industries including charter and private schools, government contractors, health services, nonprofits and associations, professional services, property management companies and title companies

About Amerant Bancorp

Amerant Bancorp Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Amerant Bank, N.A. that provides banking products and services to individuals and businesses in the United States and internationally. The company offers checking, savings, and money market accounts; and certificates of deposits. It also provides variable and fixed rate commercial real estate loans; loans secured by owner-occupied properties; loans to domestic and foreign individuals primarily secured by personal residence; working capital loans, asset-based lending, participations in shared national credits, purchased receivables, and small business administration loans; loans to financial institutions and acceptances; and consumer loans and overdrafts, such as automobile, personal, or loans secured by cash or securities and revolving credit card agreements. In addition, the company offers trust and estate planning products and services to high-net-worth customers, brokerage and investment advisory services in global capital markets, and wealth management and fiduciary services. Further, it provides debit and credit cards, night depositories, direct deposits, cashier’s checks, safe deposit boxes, letters of credit, and treasury management services, including wire transfer, remote deposit capture, and automated clearinghouse services; derivative instruments; and online and mobile banking, account balances, statements and other documents, online transfers and bill payment, and electronic delivery of customer statements services, as well as automated teller machines, and banking by mobile devices, telephone, and mail. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated 24 banking centers comprising 17 in Florida and 7 in Texas. It also operates loan production offices in Tampa, Florida. The company was formerly known as Mercantil Bank Holding Corporation and changed its name to Amerant Bancorp Inc. in June 2019. Amerant Bancorp Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida.