Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:AMTB)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $26.33 and last traded at $26.2640, with a volume of 175661 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $25.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AMTB shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Amerant Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Amerant Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Amerant Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.67.

Amerant Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.60.

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

Amerant Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amerant Bancorp

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

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.