Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Saturday.

OZK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Bank OZK from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings raised Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of OZK opened at $50.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 0.97. Bank OZK has a fifty-two week low of $42.37 and a fifty-two week high of $53.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.28.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 11.87% and a net margin of 24.95%.The company had revenue of $430.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $436.42 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is presently 31.74%.

Bank OZK declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, June 29th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Bank OZK

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Bank OZK by 17.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Bank OZK by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 774,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,530,000 after purchasing an additional 192,237 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Bank OZK by 65.8% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Bank OZK by 31.4% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 133,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,112,000 after buying an additional 31,831 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Bank OZK during the 1st quarter valued at $755,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Company 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.