International Assets Investment Management LLC Invests $456,000 in Bank OZK $OZK

International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 9,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $456,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in OZK. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in Bank OZK by 2,971.0% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 33,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,543,000 after purchasing an additional 32,532 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 49,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,255,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 8,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC purchased a new stake in Bank OZK during the 1st quarter worth about $277,000. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in Bank OZK by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 37,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares during the period. 86.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on OZK. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.25.

Bank OZK Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ OZK opened at $50.78 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.04. Bank OZK has a twelve month low of $42.37 and a twelve month high of $53.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 0.89.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $424.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 13th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 13th. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.27%.

Bank OZK declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, June 29th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are 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.