Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

OZK has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on Bank OZK in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Bank OZK from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Bank OZK from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

Bank OZK Stock Up 0.4%

OZK stock opened at $50.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Bank OZK has a fifty-two week low of $42.37 and a fifty-two week high of $53.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.28. The stock has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32 and a beta of 0.89.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Bank OZK had a net margin of 24.95% and a return on equity of 11.87%. The firm had revenue of $430.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. Bank OZK’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, June 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank OZK

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OZK. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in Bank OZK by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,437,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924,387 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Bank OZK by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,625,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,045,000 after purchasing an additional 38,592 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 9.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,554,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,576,000 after buying an additional 73,920 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 4.6% in the first 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 during the period. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.