Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Holdings in Bank OZK $OZK

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,462,377 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,216 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 5.68% of Bank OZK worth $329,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of OZK. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 11,310 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in 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 worth $2,029,000 after purchasing an additional 5,717 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Bank OZK by 1.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 60,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,609,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Bank OZK by 8.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 349,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,197,000 after purchasing an additional 26,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in Bank OZK by 11.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 17,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $770,000 after buying an additional 1,756 shares during the period. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens decreased their price objective on Bank OZK from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Monday, January 5th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Bank OZK from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.22.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

NASDAQ:OZK opened at $46.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.36. The stock has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 0.93. Bank OZK has a twelve month low of $35.71 and a twelve month high of $53.66.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.56 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $436.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $434.68 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 12.65% and a net margin of 25.50%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 13th. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is presently 29.82%.

Bank OZK Company Profile

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.