Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB) Downgraded to Neutral by Janney Montgomery Scott

Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB – Free Report) from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $25.00 price target on the stock.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Amerant Bancorp from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $25.60.

Get our latest report on Amerant Bancorp

Amerant Bancorp Stock Return

Shares of NASDAQ AMTB opened at $22.65 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $763.76 million, a price/earnings ratio of 14.28 and a beta of 1.01. Amerant Bancorp has a 52-week low of $16.63 and a 52-week high of $27.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company’s fifty-day moving average is $22.75 and its two-hundred-day moving average is $22.52.

Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.07). Amerant Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.79% and a net margin of 3.51%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.24 EPS. Analysts as a group expect that Amerant Bancorp will post 1.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amerant Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will receive a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date for this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents an annualized dividend of $0.36 and a yield of 1.59%. Amerant Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) currently stands at 52.94%.

Insider activity

In other Amerant Bancorp news, COO Carlos Iafigliola sold 10,579 shares of Amerant Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.62, for a total transaction of $239,296.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $225,317.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed at this link. In other news, CAO Armando Fleitas sold 6,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.59, for a total transaction of $140,961.60. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,368.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal document filed with the SEC, available at this link. Also, COO Carlos Iafigliola sold 10,579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.62, for a total value of $239,296.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,317.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 13.49% of the company’s shares.

Amerant Bancorp Institutional Trading

A number of large investors have made changes to their positions in the stock recently. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Amerant Bancorp by 430.9% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 6,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 5,042 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amerant Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $199,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 9,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Amerant Bancorp by 89.8% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 6,261 shares during the period. Finally, Salzhauer Michael increased its holdings in Amerant Bancorp by 66.7% in the first quarter. Salzhauer Michael now owns 24,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. 42.11% of the stock is held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Amerant Bancorp

(Get free report)

Amerant Bancorp Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Amerant Bank, N.A., which 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 deposit.

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