Foster & Motley Inc. Makes New $580,000 Investment in Bank OZK $OZK

Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 12,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $580,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in OZK. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,437,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,924,387 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Bank OZK by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,587,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,141,000 after acquiring an additional 124,691 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Bank OZK by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,556,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,712,000 after acquiring an additional 546,785 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 73,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Bank OZK by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,901,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,532,000 after purchasing an additional 93,445 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

NASDAQ OZK opened at $52.11 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $42.37 and a 12-month high of $53.66. The firm has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.90.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced 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 company had revenue of $424.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $422.62 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.27% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 13th were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 13th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on OZK shares. Wall Street Zen raised Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group began coverage on Bank OZK in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank OZK currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.89.

Bank OZK 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.