Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Increases Dividend to $0.43 Per Share

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 1st, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.43 per share on Monday, April 21st. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. This is a 2.4% increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42.

Bank OZK has raised its dividend payment by an average of 11.7% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 29 consecutive years. Bank OZK has a dividend payout ratio of 25.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Bank OZK to earn $6.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.9%.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Shares of OZK stock opened at $43.38 on Wednesday. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $37.43 and a 12-month high of $53.64. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $4.92 billion, a PE ratio of 7.07 and a beta of 1.23.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $412.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $407.19 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 25.83%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. Analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OZK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group began coverage on Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Bank OZK from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank OZK has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.38.

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.