254,180 Shares in Bank OZK $OZK Acquired by Ranger Investment Management L.P.

Ranger Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 254,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,240,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 531,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,475,000 after acquiring an additional 63,051 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 1,869,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,031,000 after purchasing an additional 50,985 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 774,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,530,000 after purchasing an additional 192,237 shares during the period. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the 4th quarter valued at $3,861,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Bank OZK by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 231,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,631,000 after purchasing an additional 24,485 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of OZK opened at $49.42 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.17 and a beta of 0.89. Bank OZK has a fifty-two week low of $42.37 and a fifty-two week high of $53.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business’s 50-day moving average is $50.93 and its 200-day moving average is $48.81.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $430.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $436.42 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 24.95% and a return on equity of 11.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 5.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, June 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 13th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 13th. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is currently 31.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.88.

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.