Head to Head Contrast: Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB) vs. Park National (NYSE:PRK)

Park National (NYSE:PRK) and Amerant Bancorp (NASDAQ:AMTB) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Park National and Amerant Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Park National	0	3	0	0	2.00
Amerant Bancorp	0	2	2	0	2.50

Park National currently has a consensus price target of $177.75, suggesting a potential upside of 3.33%. Amerant Bancorp has a consensus price target of $24.25, suggesting a potential upside of 14.39%. Given Amerant Bancorp’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Amerant Bancorp is more favorable than Park National.

Volatility & Risk

Park National has a beta of 0.76, meaning that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amerant Bancorp has a beta of 1.37, meaning that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Park National and Amerant Bancorp”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Park National	$543.45 million	5.09	$151.42 million	$10.29	16.72
Amerant Bancorp	$330.31 million	2.68	-$15.75 million	($0.20)	-106.00

Park National has higher revenue and earnings than Amerant Bancorp. Amerant Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Park National, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

62.7% of Park National shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.1% of Amerant Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of Park National shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.4% of Amerant Bancorp shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Park National pays an annual dividend of $4.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Amerant Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Park National pays out 41.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Amerant Bancorp pays out -180.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Park National has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years. Park National is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Park National and Amerant Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Park National	23.46%	12.31%	1.50%
Amerant Bancorp	-8.38%	6.36%	0.51%

Summary

Park National beats Amerant Bancorp on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Park National

Park National Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Park National Bank that provides commercial banking and trust services in small and medium population areas. The company offers deposits for demand, savings, and time accounts; trust and wealth management services; cash management services; safe deposit operations; electronic funds transfers; Internet and mobile banking solutions with bill pay service; credit cards; and various additional banking-related services. It also provides commercial loans, including financing for industrial and commercial properties, financing for equipment, inventory and accounts receivable, acquisition financing, and commercial leasing, as well as for consumer finance companies; commercial real estate loans comprising mortgage loans to developers and owners of commercial real estate; originates financing leases primarily for the purchase of commercial vehicles, operating/manufacturing equipment, and municipal vehicles/equipment; consumer loans, such as automobile loans; consumer finance services; home equity lines of credit; and residential real estate and construction loans, as well as installment loans and commercial loans. In addition, the company offers aircraft financing services; and ParkDirect, a personal banking application. Park National Corporation was founded in 1908 and is headquartered in Newark, Ohio.

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. The company also provides variable and fixed rate commercial real estate loans; owner-occupied; single-family residential; commercial; and consumer loans and overdrafts, such as automobile, personal, or loans secured by cash or securities and revolving credit card agreements. In addition, it offers trust and estate planning products and services to high-net-worth customers, brokerage and investment advisory services in global capital markets, and wealth management and fiduciary services. Further, the company provides debit and credit cards, night depositories, direct deposits, cashier's checks, safe deposit boxes, letters of credit, and treasury management services, including wire transfer, remote deposit capture, and automated clearinghouse services; derivative instruments; and online and mobile banking, account balances, statements and other documents, online transfers and bill payment, and electronic delivery of customer statements services, as well as automated teller machines, and banking by mobile devices, telephone, and mail. It operates banking centers in Florida and Texas. The company was formerly known as Mercantil Bank Holding Corporation and changed its name to Amerant Bancorp Inc. in June 2019. Amerant Bancorp Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida.