Amerant Bancorp price target lowered to $25 from $32 at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler lowered the firm’s price target on Amerant Bancorp (AMTB) to $25 from $32 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares. While the company executed $5M in share repurchases and redeemed $60M in senior notes on April 1 to strengthen the capital structure, these positives will likely be overwhelmed by the renewed uncertainty around credit quality and loan portfolio management, the firm says. Piper is lowering its forward estimates by over 20%, down to $1.75/$2.25 from $2.05/$2.80 previously, on higher expected credit costs, a slightly lower net interest margin, and slower loan growth. The firm still thinks the shares will move notably higher from here over the next 12 months.