Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $56.7778.

Several equities analysts have commented on OZK shares. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Bank OZK from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $62.00 target price on Bank OZK in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 58.2% in the 2nd 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. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Bank OZK by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Bank OZK by 1.4% in the third quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $857,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 11,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OZK opened at $46.56 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 7.55 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.44. Bank OZK has a 1-year low of $35.71 and a 1-year high of $53.66.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th were given a $0.46 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 13th. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is presently 29.82%.

About Bank OZK

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.