Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on OZK. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Bank OZK from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Bank OZK from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.38.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Shares of Bank OZK stock opened at $51.41 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $50.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.54. The company has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a PE ratio of 8.50 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Bank OZK has a 52 week low of $42.37 and a 52 week high of $53.66.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $430.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.42 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 11.87% and a net margin of 24.95%.The business’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 5.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, June 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank OZK

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Bank OZK by 4.2% during the fourth 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. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 11,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 48,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,254,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Bank OZK by 4.5% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted 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 acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.