Squarepoint Ops LLC Makes New Investment in Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:AMTB)

Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:AMTB) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 12,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AMTB. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Amerant Bancorp by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,113,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,498,000 after purchasing an additional 267,466 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 9.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 864,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,621,000 after buying an additional 72,028 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 10,835 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amerant Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $199,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 89.8% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 6,261 shares in the last quarter. 42.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AMTB shares. Stephens upgraded shares of Amerant Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler raised Amerant Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $26.00 to $26.50 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Amerant Bancorp from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Raymond James cut their price target on Amerant Bancorp from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott lowered Amerant Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.10.

Amerant Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AMTB opened at $20.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $674.95 million, a P/E ratio of 33.07 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.93. Amerant Bancorp Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.63 and a 52 week high of $27.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $98.78 million during 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 last year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Amerant Bancorp Inc. will post 1.15 EPS for the current year.

Amerant Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Amerant Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.02%.

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.