Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:AMTB) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday. The company traded as high as $31.00 and last traded at $30.4960, with a volume of 27,407 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $30.07.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AMTB shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Amerant Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Stephens lowered shares of Amerant Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $32.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $35.00 price target (up from $33.50) on shares of Amerant Bancorp in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Amerant Bancorp in a research note on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Amerant Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Amerant Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.25.

Amerant Bancorp Stock Down 0.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $29.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65 and a beta of 0.80.

Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $108.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $103.35 million. Amerant Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.36% and a net margin of 10.63%. On average, analysts predict that Amerant Bancorp Inc. will post 2.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Amerant Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Amerant Bancorp’s payout ratio is 21.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amerant Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMTB. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp in the third quarter worth $137,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Amerant Bancorp by 455.6% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,927 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Amerant Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in Amerant Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Amerant Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at $215,000. 42.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Amerant Bancorp

Amerant Bancorp is the bank holding company for Amerant Bank, a regional financial institution headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida. Through its banking subsidiary, the company provides financial products and services to consumers, businesses and institutions, with a primary focus on markets in Florida and Texas.

Amerant Bank offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial loans, residential mortgages, home equity products, credit cards and treasury management services. It also provides wealth management and investment services, along with digital banking tools that allow customers to manage accounts, transfer funds and make payments online and through mobile devices.

The company traces its origins to 1970, when it was established as Commercebank.