The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Grows Stock Holdings in Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:AMTB)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:AMTB) by 23.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,998 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,316 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Amerant Bancorp were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Amerant Bancorp by 30.1% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,197 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amerant Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $199,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Amerant Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Amerant Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $281,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 6,261 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.11% of the company’s stock.

Amerant Bancorp Stock Performance

AMTB opened at $21.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $714.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.15 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $20.89 and a 200 day moving average of $21.86. Amerant Bancorp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.63 and a fifty-two week high of $27.00.

Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $98.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.19 million. Amerant Bancorp had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 7.78%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Amerant Bancorp Inc. will post 1.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amerant Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Amerant Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AMTB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens raised shares of Amerant Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Amerant Bancorp from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Piper Sandler raised shares of Amerant Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $26.00 to $26.50 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of Amerant Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amerant Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.10.

Amerant Bancorp 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.