Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $56.8750.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on OZK. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Bank OZK from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank OZK

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Bank OZK by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 774,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,530,000 after purchasing an additional 192,237 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Bank OZK by 2,971.0% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 33,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,543,000 after buying an additional 32,532 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 231,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,631,000 after buying an additional 24,485 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its position in Bank OZK by 50.4% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 62,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,860,000 after acquiring an additional 20,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Bank OZK during the second quarter worth about $63,410,000. 86.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank OZK Price Performance

OZK opened at $49.16 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $50.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.78. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $42.37 and a 12-month high of $53.41. The firm has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $430.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.42 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 24.95% and a return on equity of 11.87%. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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, sell-side analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 13th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 dividend payout ratio is 31.74%.

Bank OZK announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, June 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Bank OZK

Bank OZK is a regional financial institution headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. The company provides banking services to individuals, businesses and institutions through a network of banking offices concentrated in the Southeastern United States and select markets, including New York and California.

Its products and services include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial real estate loans, consumer lending, commercial and industrial financing, treasury management and other business banking solutions.