Stephens Upgrades Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB) to “Overweight”

Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Stephens from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a $25.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $24.00. Stephens’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 23.15% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler raised Amerant Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $26.50 in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Amerant Bancorp from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott lowered Amerant Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.50.

Amerant Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMTB opened at $20.30 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $21.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $684.43 million, a PE ratio of 31.43 and a beta of 1.00. Amerant Bancorp has a 1 year low of $16.63 and a 1 year high of $27.00.

Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $98.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.19 million. Amerant Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.78% and a net margin of 3.15%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Amerant Bancorp will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amerant Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Amerant Bancorp by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,113,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,498,000 after purchasing an additional 267,466 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,619,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,710,000 after buying an additional 10,835 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 864,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,621,000 after buying an additional 72,028 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 207,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,103,000 after buying an additional 2,649 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 156,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,546,000 after buying an additional 21,318 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.11% of the company’s stock.

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.