Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.38 Million in Bank OZK $OZK

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 30,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,381,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. BOKF NA bought a new stake in shares of Bank OZK during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 100.5% during the fourth quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Bank OZK in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 111.2% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.33.

Bank OZK Trading Down 5.7%

Shares of Bank OZK stock opened at $49.84 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.90. Bank OZK has a fifty-two week low of $42.37 and a fifty-two week high of $53.66. The firm has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). Bank OZK had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 25.27%.The firm had revenue of $424.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $422.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.47 earnings per share. Bank OZK’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, June 29th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 13th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is 30.62%.

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.