Great Lakes Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Bank OZK $OZK

Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 63,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,308,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of OZK. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 37.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 41,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 11,310 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 14.0% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 46,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,029,000 after acquiring an additional 5,717 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 1.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 60,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Bank OZK by 8.3% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 349,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,197,000 after purchasing an additional 26,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Bank OZK by 11.0% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 17,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $770,000 after purchasing an additional 1,756 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OZK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Bank OZK from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Bank OZK from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.88.

Bank OZK Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ OZK opened at $49.28 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.81. The company has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.15 and a beta of 0.89. Bank OZK has a 12 month low of $42.37 and a 12 month high of $53.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $430.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $436.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 31.74%.

Bank OZK declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, June 29th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.