Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Bank OZK Put Options (NASDAQ:OZK)

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 5,033 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 281% compared to the average daily volume of 1,321 put options.

Institutional Trading of Bank OZK

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of OZK. Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the first quarter valued at approximately $344,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Bank OZK by 119.3% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 46,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 25,067 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Bank OZK by 37.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 41,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 11,310 shares during the period. Amundi increased its holdings in Bank OZK by 134.9% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 368,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,010,000 after purchasing an additional 211,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 46,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,029,000 after purchasing an additional 5,717 shares during the period. 86.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on OZK. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $61.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.00.

Bank OZK Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ OZK opened at $46.96 on Thursday. Bank OZK has a twelve month low of $35.71 and a twelve month high of $53.66. The stock has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company’s fifty day moving average is $46.07 and its 200-day moving average is $48.78.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.66 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $449.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.93 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.00% and a net margin of 25.81%.During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is 29.03%.

About Bank OZK

Bank OZK, formerly known as Bank of the Ozarks, is a regional commercial bank headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Established in 1903, the bank offers a full suite of banking products and services to both individual and corporate clients. Through a combination of organic growth and targeted acquisitions, Bank OZK has built a diversified lending portfolio and a strong deposit franchise.

The bank’s core operations focus on commercial real estate lending, including acquisition, development and construction financing.