Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Amerant Bancorp from “hold” to “sell,” adding to a more cautious analyst tone around the stock.
• Despite the downgrade, the broader analyst view is still mixed: the consensus rating remains “Hold” with a consensus price target of $23.67.
• Amerant Bancorp reported Q1 EPS of $0.44, topping estimates by a penny, but revenue came in below expectations at $97.66 million versus the $102.56 million forecast.

Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research downgraded Amerant Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Amerant Bancorp from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Amerant Bancorp from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Amerant Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $23.67.

Amerant Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Amerant Bancorp stock opened at $23.41 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $941.58 million, a PE ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 0.90. Amerant Bancorp 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 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $22.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.73.

Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 $97.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $102.56 million. On average, research analysts predict that Amerant Bancorp will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amerant Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Guerra Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Amerant Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Amerant Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $78,000. CWM LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,874 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amerant Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $129,000. Institutional investors own 42.11% of the company's stock.

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.

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