Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB) Shares Gap Up Following Dividend Announcement

Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:AMTB)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock had previously closed at $22.40, but opened at $24.20. Amerant Bancorp shares last traded at $24.29, with a volume of 23,126 shares.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Amerant Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently -63.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AMTB. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Amerant Bancorp in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Amerant Bancorp from $26.50 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Amerant Bancorp from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Amerant Bancorp from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amerant Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.20.

Amerant Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $977.37 million, a PE ratio of -40.72 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $23.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.30.

Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. The company had revenue of ($999.00) million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.39 million. Amerant Bancorp had a positive return on equity of 6.36% and a negative net margin of 8.38%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Amerant Bancorp Inc. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amerant Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Amerant Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $65,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 655.8% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Amerant Bancorp by 74.3% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,000 after purchasing an additional 3,845 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Amerant Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $247,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Amerant Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $250,000. 42.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Amerant Bancorp

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.