Azora Capital LP Buys Shares of 537,884 Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:AMTB)

Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:AMTB) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 537,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,495,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,619,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,710,000 after acquiring an additional 10,835 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Amerant Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $199,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Amerant Bancorp by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 156,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,546,000 after purchasing an additional 21,318 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 30.1% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,172 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 1,197 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 46,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after buying an additional 4,622 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.11% of the company’s stock.

Amerant Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMTB opened at $24.87 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of -16.80 and a beta of 0.99. Amerant Bancorp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.54 and a fifty-two week high of $27.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.04. The company had revenue of ($999.00) million for 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 last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amerant Bancorp Inc. will post 1.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amerant Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. Amerant Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -24.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMTB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Amerant Bancorp from $26.50 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James dropped 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. Finally, Stephens raised shares of Amerant Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.60.

Amerant Bancorp Company 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.