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

Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:AMTB) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $24.50 and last traded at $24.3140, with a volume of 4611 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.81.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on AMTB. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Amerant Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen raised Amerant Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Amerant Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amerant Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.67.

Amerant Bancorp Price Performance

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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $23.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.94. The stock has a market cap of $961.12 million, a P/E ratio of 17.30 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Amerant Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Amerant Bancorp’s payout ratio is 25.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amerant Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMTB. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Amerant Bancorp by 149.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,511 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Amerant Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 11.8% during 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 last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Amerant Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $129,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amerant Bancorp in the third quarter worth 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.