Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) Hits New 1-Year High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Amerant Bancorp hit a new 52-week high of $24.12 (last $23.88) during mid-day trading, up about 2.6% with roughly 53,800 shares changing hands.
• Analysts show a mixed but generally positive view—consensus is Moderate Buy with an average price target of $23.75; recent moves include price-target increases to $23 by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Raymond James, and a split of 3 Buy vs. 3 Hold ratings.
• Fundamentals and corporate signals: the firm beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.53 vs. $0.43) on $230.7M revenue, pays a $0.09 quarterly dividend (≈1.5% yield), and a director recently bought 4,816 shares, indicating insider buying.

Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:AMTB - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $24.12 and last traded at $23.88, with a volume of 53803 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMTB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target 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. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Amerant Bancorp in a report on Friday, March 27th. Raymond James Financial raised 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Amerant Bancorp from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amerant Bancorp from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amerant Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.75.

Amerant Bancorp Stock Up 2.6%

The firm has a market capitalization of $957.07 million, a P/E ratio of 19.03 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business's fifty day moving average price is $21.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.11.

Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $230.71 million during the quarter. Amerant Bancorp had a net margin of 7.75% and a return on equity of 7.78%.

Amerant Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Amerant Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.80%.

Insider Activity at Amerant Bancorp

In related news, Director Odilon Almeida acquired 4,816 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.99 per share, with a total value of $101,087.84. Following the transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amerant Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Amerant Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Amerant Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $78,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 153.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,748 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 2,874 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 11.8% in the 2nd 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amerant Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $129,000. 42.11% of the stock is 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.