Versant Capital Management Inc Raises Stock Position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 423.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 978 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $40,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of OZK. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank OZK in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Bank OZK during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Bank OZK during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Bank OZK by 303.9% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Bank OZK during the 1st quarter valued at $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on OZK. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $57.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.71.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

OZK traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.25. 233,940 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,312,453. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a PE ratio of 6.86 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50-day moving average is $41.68 and its 200 day moving average is $43.70. Bank OZK has a 52 week low of $34.76 and a 52 week high of $52.36.

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

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors of record on Friday, July 12th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 12th. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is presently 26.80%.

Bank OZK 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.