Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) Trading Down 5.8% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Shares fell 5.8% to about $22.60 on Friday (intraday low $21.99), trading ~194,958 shares—roughly 29% below average—and down from the prior close of $24.00.
• Q1 mixed results: Amerant reported $0.44 EPS (beating the $0.43 estimate) but revenue of $97.66M missed the $102.56M forecast, with a net margin of 7.75% and ROE of 7.78%.
• Analyst and shareholder signals: The stock has a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a $23.75 target amid split Buy/Hold ratings; the company also announced a $0.09 quarterly dividend (1.6% yield) and an insider recently purchased shares.

Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:AMTB - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 5.8% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $21.99 and last traded at $22.5990. 194,958 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 276,425 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AMTB shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Amerant Bancorp from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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. Raymond James Financial lifted 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 lowered shares of Amerant Bancorp from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, March 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Amerant Bancorp from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $23.75.

Amerant Bancorp Stock Down 6.6%

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 stock has a market capitalization of $901.35 million, a P/E ratio of 17.94 and a beta of 0.93. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $22.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.46.

Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.01. Amerant Bancorp had a net margin of 7.75% and a return on equity of 7.78%. The firm had revenue of $97.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $102.56 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Amerant Bancorp Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amerant Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Amerant Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 28.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amerant Bancorp news, Director Odilon Almeida bought 4,816 shares of Amerant Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $20.99 per share, with a total value of $101,087.84. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,316 shares of the company's stock, valued at $111,582.84. The trade was a 963.20% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amerant Bancorp

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

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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