Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.14.

A number of research firms have issued reports on OZK. UBS Group lowered shares of Bank OZK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Raymond James raised shares of Bank OZK from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $62.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank OZK

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Bank OZK by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 727 shares in the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Bank OZK by 216.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 3,875 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Bank OZK by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 928,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,422,000 after acquiring an additional 95,473 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Bank OZK by 394.9% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 32,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,209,000 after acquiring an additional 26,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Bank OZK during the 3rd quarter worth $2,431,000. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank OZK Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of OZK opened at $46.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.72 and a beta of 1.27. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $30.72 and a 12-month high of $52.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $43.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $406.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $396.81 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 28.54% and a return on equity of 14.84%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.13%.

Bank OZK Company Profile

Bank OZK provides various retail and commercial banking services for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company offers deposit services, including non-interest bearing checking, interest bearing transaction, business sweep, savings, money market, individual retirement, and other accounts, as well as time and reciprocal deposits.