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

Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $54.57.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on OZK shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Bank OZK from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. Zacks Research raised Bank OZK from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 27th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 2nd.

Institutional Trading of Bank OZK

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of OZK. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Bank OZK by 0.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,625,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,045,000 after purchasing an additional 38,592 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,036,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,327,000 after purchasing an additional 134,490 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,146,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,812,000 after purchasing an additional 29,024 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,809,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Bank OZK during the second quarter valued at approximately $63,410,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of OZK opened at $44.86 on Friday. Bank OZK has a twelve month low of $42.37 and a twelve month high of $53.39. The company has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.41 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $48.97 and a 200 day moving average of $48.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $430.02 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $436.42 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 11.87% and a net margin of 24.95%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is 31.74%.

Bank OZK announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, June 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Bank OZK

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) is a regional financial institution headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. The bank provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and institutions through a network of branches and digital banking channels.

Its products and services include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, consumer and commercial loans, residential mortgages, treasury management, online and mobile banking, and wealth management. Bank OZK also provides specialized lending through its Real Estate Specialties Group, which focuses on commercial real estate financing for projects in markets across the United States.

The company traces its origins to 1903, when it was founded as a community bank in Jasper, Arkansas.