Bank OZK $OZK Shares Bought by Caxton Associates LLP

Caxton Associates LLP grew its position in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 57.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 33,816 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,307 shares during the quarter. Caxton Associates LLP’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $1,552,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 34.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Bank OZK during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,809,000. 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. Fairholme Capital Management LLC increased its position in Bank OZK by 45.1% during the second quarter. Fairholme Capital Management LLC now owns 916,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,142,000 after buying an additional 285,150 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in Bank OZK during the third quarter worth approximately $13,014,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Stock Up 0.4%

OZK opened at $50.33 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $50.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32 and a beta of 0.89. Bank OZK has a 52 week low of $42.37 and a 52 week high of $53.66.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 11.87% and a net margin of 24.95%.The company had revenue of $430.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $436.42 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 5.94 EPS for the current year.

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

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 13th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 13th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on OZK shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

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.