Federated Hermes Inc. Boosts Holdings in Bank OZK $OZK

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 103.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,033 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,170 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $1,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of OZK. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Bank OZK by 58.2% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 590 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 82.2% during the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 665 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. raised its position in shares of Bank OZK by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. now owns 13,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $667,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 147.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OZK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Bank OZK from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $62.00 target price on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank OZK presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.78.

Bank OZK Price Performance

OZK opened at $51.40 on Friday. Bank OZK has a twelve month low of $35.71 and a twelve month high of $53.66. The firm has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.48.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.03). Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.50% and a return on equity of 12.65%. The firm had revenue of $436.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $434.68 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th were issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.82%.

Bank OZK Profile

Bank OZK, formerly known as Bank of the Ozarks, is a regional commercial bank headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Established in 1903, the bank offers a full suite of banking products and services to both individual and corporate clients. Through a combination of organic growth and targeted acquisitions, Bank OZK has built a diversified lending portfolio and a strong deposit franchise.

The bank’s core operations focus on commercial real estate lending, including acquisition, development and construction financing.