Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. Purchases Shares of 34,140 Bank OZK $OZK

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. purchased a new position in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 34,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,567,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in OZK. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Bank OZK during the third quarter valued at about $1,301,000. Ruffer LLP purchased a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the fourth quarter worth about $3,137,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the fourth quarter worth about $2,263,000. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 531,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,475,000 after acquiring an additional 63,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 284,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,371,000 after acquiring an additional 50,258 shares during the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of Bank OZK stock opened at $49.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.92. The company has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 0.89. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $42.37 and a 12-month high of $53.66.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). Bank OZK had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 25.27%.The company had revenue of $424.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $422.62 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is currently 30.62%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on OZK. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Bank OZK from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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 note on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.33.

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.