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

Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:AMTB) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. 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 trading hands.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Amerant Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -24.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lowered their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Amerant Bancorp from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of Amerant Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Amerant Bancorp from $26.50 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.20.

Amerant Bancorp Trading Up 6.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $999.40 million, a PE ratio of -16.08 and a beta of 1.03. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $23.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.29.

Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. The company had revenue of ($999.00) million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $99.39 million. Amerant Bancorp had a negative net margin of 8.38% and a positive return on equity of 5.73%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Amerant Bancorp Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amerant Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMTB. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Amerant Bancorp in the third quarter worth $65,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Amerant Bancorp by 655.8% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Amerant Bancorp by 74.3% in the 3rd 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 stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $247,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $250,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.11% of the company’s stock.

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.