Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $56.8889.

OZK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Bank OZK from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group started coverage on Bank OZK in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank OZK

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OZK. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Bank OZK by 34.9% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,437,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924,387 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,625,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,045,000 after purchasing an additional 38,592 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Bank OZK by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,556,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,712,000 after buying an additional 546,785 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Bank OZK by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,554,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,576,000 after buying an additional 73,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Bank OZK by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,036,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,327,000 after buying an additional 134,490 shares in the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank OZK Price Performance

NASDAQ OZK opened at $48.39 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 7.88 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $47.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. Bank OZK has a 52-week low of $42.37 and a 52-week high of $53.66.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $424.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $422.62 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 25.27%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 13th were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 13th. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is 30.62%.

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.