Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) versus Susquehanna Bancshares (NASDAQ:SUSQ) Critical Analysis

Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) and Susquehanna Bancshares (NASDAQ:SUSQ) are both financial services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Amerant Bancorp and Susquehanna Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Amerant Bancorp	0	1	1	0	2.50
Susquehanna Bancshares	0	0	0	0	0.00

Given Susquehanna Bancshares’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Susquehanna Bancshares is more favorable than Amerant Bancorp.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Amerant Bancorp and Susquehanna Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Amerant Bancorp	$432.16 million	1.67	-$15.75 million	$1.58	11.06
Susquehanna Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Susquehanna Bancshares has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Amerant Bancorp.

Profitability

This table compares Amerant Bancorp and Susquehanna Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Amerant Bancorp	9.74%	7.82%	0.70%
Susquehanna Bancshares	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

42.1% of Amerant Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.4% of Amerant Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Amerant Bancorp beats Susquehanna Bancshares on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The company offers checking, savings, and money market accounts; and certificates of deposits. It also provides variable and fixed rate commercial real estate loans; loans secured by owner-occupied properties; loans to domestic and foreign individuals primarily secured by personal residence; working capital loans, asset-based lending, participations in shared national credits, purchased receivables, and small business administration loans; loans to financial institutions and acceptances; and consumer loans and overdrafts, such as automobile, personal, or loans secured by cash or securities and revolving credit card agreements. In addition, the company offers trust and estate planning products and services to high-net-worth customers, brokerage and investment advisory services in global capital markets, and wealth management and fiduciary services. Further, it provides debit and credit cards, night depositories, direct deposits, cashier’s checks, safe deposit boxes, letters of credit, and treasury management services, including wire transfer, remote deposit capture, and automated clearinghouse services; derivative instruments; and online and mobile banking, account balances, statements and other documents, online transfers and bill payment, and electronic delivery of customer statements services, as well as automated teller machines, and banking by mobile devices, telephone, and mail. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated 24 banking centers comprising 17 in Florida and 7 in Texas. It also operates loan production offices in Tampa, Florida. The company was formerly known as Mercantil Bank Holding Corporation and changed its name to Amerant Bancorp Inc. in June 2019. Amerant Bancorp Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida.

About Susquehanna Bancshares

Susquehanna Bancshares, Inc. is a financial holding company. The Company conducts its business operations primarily through its commercial bank subsidiary, Susquehanna Bank, and other subsidiaries in the mid-Atlantic region to provide a range of retail and commercial banking and financial products and services. It provides a range of retail banking services, including checking, savings and club accounts, check cards, debit cards, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, home equity lines of credit, residential mortgage loans, home improvement loans, automobile loans, personal loans, and internet and mobile banking services. It also provides a range of commercial banking services, including business checking accounts, cash management services, money market accounts, land acquisition and development loans, commercial loans, floor plan, equipment and working capital lines of credit, small business loans and internet banking services.