Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Purchases 111,837 Shares of Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:AMTB)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:AMTB - Free Report) by 216.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 163,435 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 111,837 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.39% of Amerant Bancorp worth $3,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AMTB. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Amerant Bancorp by 1,000.9% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,167 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,061 shares during the period. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Amerant Bancorp by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,874 shares of the company's stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 1,286 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Amerant Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $148,000. Arizona State Retirement System purchased a new position in Amerant Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $220,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Amerant Bancorp by 77.1% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,544 shares of the company's stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 4,589 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AMTB. Raymond James downgraded shares of Amerant Bancorp from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Amerant Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Amerant Bancorp from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $24.60.

Amerant Bancorp Stock Down 0.7%

NASDAQ AMTB traded down $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.90. 11,672 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 192,464. Amerant Bancorp Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.21 and a 12-month high of $27.00. The firm has a market cap of $748.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.44 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $18.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.64.

Amerant Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Amerant Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently -60.00%.

Amerant Bancorp Profile

Amerant Bancorp Inc operates as the bank holding company for Amerant Bank, N.A. that provides banking products and services to individuals and businesses in the United States and internationally. It offers checking, savings, business, and money market accounts; cash management services; and certificates of deposits.