California Public Employees Retirement System Has $10.63 Million Position in Bank OZK $OZK

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 11.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 231,654 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,485 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $10,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in OZK. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Bank OZK by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 11,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 48,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,254,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Bank OZK by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in Bank OZK by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 38,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,761,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on OZK. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Bank OZK from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Bank OZK from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

Bank OZK Trading Up 0.4%

OZK opened at $50.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32 and a beta of 0.89. Bank OZK has a 1-year low of $42.37 and a 1-year high of $53.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.28.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $430.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. Bank OZK’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 13th were given a $0.48 dividend. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.74%.

Bank OZK announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, June 29th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.