Financial Review: OptimumBank (NASDAQ:OPHC) & Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB)

Amerant Bancorp (NYSE:AMTB) and OptimumBank (NASDAQ:OPHC) are both small-cap financial services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, dividends and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

42.1% of Amerant Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 7.4% of OptimumBank shares are held by institutional investors. 5.4% of Amerant Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.9% of OptimumBank shares are held 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Amerant Bancorp and OptimumBank, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Amerant Bancorp	1	0	1	0	2.00
OptimumBank	0	0	0	0	0.00

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Amerant Bancorp and OptimumBank”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Amerant Bancorp	$605.50 million	1.16	-$15.75 million	$1.58	10.61
OptimumBank	$43.11 million	1.11	$6.28 million	$1.28	3.19

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

Risk and Volatility

Amerant Bancorp has a beta of 1.33, meaning that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, OptimumBank has a beta of 0.41, meaning that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Amerant Bancorp	9.74%	7.90%	0.71%
OptimumBank	19.62%	14.10%	1.31%

Summary

Amerant Bancorp beats OptimumBank on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The company offers checking, savings, and money market accounts; and certificates of deposits. It also provides variable and fixed rate commercial real estate loans; loans secured by owner-occupied properties; loans to domestic and foreign individuals primarily secured by personal residence; working capital loans, asset-based lending, participations in shared national credits, purchased receivables, and small business administration loans; loans to financial institutions and acceptances; and consumer loans and overdrafts, such as automobile, personal, or loans secured by cash or securities and revolving credit card agreements. In addition, the company 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, it 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. As of December 31, 2021, the company operated 24 banking centers comprising 17 in Florida and 7 in Texas. It also operates loan production offices in Tampa, Florida. 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.

About OptimumBank

OptimumBank Holdings, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for OptimumBank that provides various consumer and commercial banking services to individuals and businesses. It accepts demand interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing, savings, money market, and NOW accounts, as well as time deposits, wire transfers, ACH services, and certificates of deposit. The company also offers residential and commercial real estate, multi-family real estate, land and construction loans; commercial loans are generally used for working capital purposes or for acquiring equipment, inventory, and furniture; and consumer loans for various purposes, including purchases of automobiles, recreational vehicles, boats, home improvements, lines of credit, personal, and deposit account collateralized loans. In addition, it provides Visa debit and ATM cards; cash management, notary, and night depository services; and direct deposits, money orders, cashier's checks, domestic collections, and banking by mail, as well as internet banking services. The company was founded in 2000 and is based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.