Norges Bank Purchases New Stake in Bank OZK $OZK

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,299,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,809,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.16% of Bank OZK as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Bank OZK by 37.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 41,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 11,310 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Bank OZK by 14.0% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 46,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,029,000 after acquiring an additional 5,717 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Bank OZK by 1.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 60,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position 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 valued at $15,197,000 after acquiring an additional 26,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in Bank OZK by 11.0% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 17,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $770,000 after acquiring an additional 1,756 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Bank OZK stock opened at $49.60 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $47.67 and its 200 day moving average is $47.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 0.90. Bank OZK has a one year low of $42.37 and a one year high of $53.66.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted 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 company had revenue of $424.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $422.62 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 25.27%.Bank OZK’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 13th were paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 13th. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is currently 30.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on OZK shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Weiss Ratings cut Bank OZK from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group started coverage on Bank OZK in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.89.

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.