Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:AMTB) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:AMTB) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,228,319 shares, an increase of 35.5% from the February 26th total of 906,667 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 313,812 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AMTB. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Amerant Bancorp in a report on Friday. Zacks Research raised Amerant Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Amerant Bancorp from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wall Street Zen cut Amerant Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Amerant Bancorp from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Odilon Almeida bought 4,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.99 per share, for a total transaction of $101,087.84. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 5,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,582.84. This trade represents a 963.20% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.37% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amerant Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in Amerant Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Amerant Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $78,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 153.4% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 2,874 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 11.8% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Amerant Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $129,000. 42.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amerant Bancorp Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:AMTB opened at $21.69 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $872.55 million, a PE ratio of 17.35 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Amerant Bancorp has a 1-year low of $15.62 and a 1-year high of $23.55. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $21.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.03.

Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.10. Amerant Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.78% and a net margin of 7.75%.The firm had revenue of $230.71 million for the quarter.

Amerant Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Amerant Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 28.80%.

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.