Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Upgraded to “Hold” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on OZK. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup cut shares of Bank OZK from a buy rating to a sell rating and cut their price target for the stock from $57.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $45.14.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Bank OZK stock opened at $45.33 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a PE ratio of 7.59 and a beta of 1.20. Bank OZK has a 1-year low of $34.76 and a 1-year high of $52.36.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52. The business had revenue of $416.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $414.39 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 14.50%. Bank OZK’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 12th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 12th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is 26.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank OZK

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,028,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,394,000 after purchasing an additional 502,005 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,897,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,562,000 after purchasing an additional 300,025 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,279,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,776,000 after purchasing an additional 51,379 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank OZK in the 4th quarter valued at $56,293,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 721,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,777,000 after purchasing an additional 32,813 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

About Bank OZK

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.