Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 55,095 Amerant Bancorp Inc. $AMTB

Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amerant Bancorp Inc. (NYSE:AMTB) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 55,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,214,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AMTB. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Amerant Bancorp by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 49,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Amerant Bancorp by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 154,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,807,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 11.8% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 1.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 35,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $653,000 after buying an additional 617 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Amerant Bancorp by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 21,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $454,000 after buying an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. 42.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amerant Bancorp Stock Up 0.2%

AMTB stock opened at $29.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24 and a beta of 0.88. Amerant Bancorp Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.62 and a 12 month high of $30.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.14. Amerant Bancorp had a net margin of 8.83% and a return on equity of 8.26%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amerant Bancorp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Amerant Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Amerant Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMTB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Amerant Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Amerant Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Amerant Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.67.

Amerant Bancorp Company Profile

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.