Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) Reaches New 52-Week High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Amerant Bancorp shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $26.33 after closing previously at $25.76.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold,” with an average target price of $23.67, even after a few recent rating changes.
• The company posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.44 beating estimates and revenue of $177.94 million well above expectations; it also pays a quarterly dividend yielding about 1.4%.

Shares of Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:AMTB - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $26.33 and last traded at $26.2640, with a volume of 175661 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $25.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AMTB shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amerant Bancorp from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut Amerant Bancorp from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Amerant Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $23.67.

Amerant Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.74 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.53.

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

Amerant Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Amerant Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.53%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 83.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 22,594 shares of the company's stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 10,249 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,989 shares of the company's stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Amerant Bancorp by 6.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 91,965 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,434 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Amerant Bancorp by 1.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 35,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Amerant Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $275,000. 42.11% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

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