Short Interest in Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:AMTB) Increases By 35.5%

Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:AMTB) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 1,228,319 shares, a growth of 35.5% from the February 26th total of 906,667 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 313,812 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days. Approximately 3.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMTB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Amerant Bancorp from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Amerant Bancorp from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amerant Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Amerant Bancorp from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Amerant Bancorp in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Odilon Almeida acquired 4,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.99 per share, with a total value of $101,087.84. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,316 shares in the company, valued at $111,582.84. The trade was a 963.20% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 5.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amerant Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMTB. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Amerant Bancorp by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 49,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $962,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 154,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,807,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 35,819 shares of the company’s stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares during the period. Finally, EJF Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 26,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.11% of the company’s stock.

Amerant Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AMTB traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $21.53. 171,902 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 305,141. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.92. Amerant Bancorp has a one year low of $15.62 and a one year high of $23.55. The company has a market cap of $866.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $21.71 and a 200 day moving average of $20.04.

Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $230.71 million during the quarter. Amerant Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.78% and a net margin of 7.75%.

Amerant Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Amerant Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 28.80%.

About Amerant Bancorp

Amerant Bancorp is the bank holding company and parent of Amerant Bank, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida. Amerant Bank delivers a comprehensive range of deposit and lending products to both retail and commercial clients, including checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, consumer mortgages, and business lines of credit. In addition, the company offers specialized services such as treasury management, international trade finance, foreign exchange, and asset-based lending to support the complex needs of corporate and high-net-worth customers.

Tracing its roots to the early 1980s, Amerant has grown through a combination of strategic acquisitions and organic expansion.