Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB) Downgraded to “Neutral” at Janney Montgomery Scott

Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $25.00 price objective on the stock.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Amerant Bancorp from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $25.20.

Amerant Bancorp Price Performance

AMTB opened at $21.85 on Friday. Amerant Bancorp has a 12-month low of $16.63 and a 12-month high of $27.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.49. The company has a market capitalization of $736.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13 and a beta of 1.01.

Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Amerant Bancorp will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amerant Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Amerant Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 52.94%.

Insider Activity at Amerant Bancorp

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amerant Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 1.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,559,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,190,000 after purchasing an additional 20,214 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 9,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 207,699 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 430.9% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Mendon Capital Advisors Corp purchased a new position in shares of Amerant Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $3,563,000. 42.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amerant Bancorp Company 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.