Persistent Asset Partners Ltd Takes $704,000 Position in Amerant Bancorp Inc. $AMTB

Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:AMTB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 36,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $704,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd owned 0.09% of Amerant Bancorp as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 516,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,074,000 after buying an additional 32,275 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 81,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,582,000 after buying an additional 15,843 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,006,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 37,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $740,000 after buying an additional 3,862 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 345,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,742,000 after buying an additional 23,231 shares in the last quarter. 42.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amerant Bancorp Price Performance

AMTB opened at $23.22 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.77. Amerant Bancorp Inc. has a 12-month low of $15.62 and a 12-month high of $24.38. 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 capitalization of $913.75 million, a P/E ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 0.90.

Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) last posted 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. Amerant Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.59% and a net margin of 8.83%.The firm had revenue of $177.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $102.56 million. Equities analysts predict that Amerant Bancorp Inc. will post 1.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amerant Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Amerant Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMTB shares. Zacks Research downgraded Amerant Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Amerant Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Amerant Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.