Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK – Get Free Report) shares were down 6.4% on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $41.00 to $39.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Bank OZK traded as low as $42.10 and last traded at $42.22. Approximately 809,403 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 1,150,450 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.11.
A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of Bank OZK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $38.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.50.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank OZK
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Bank OZK by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 2.0% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 10,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 30,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 2.8% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. 84.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Bank OZK Stock Performance
The stock has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.23 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.
Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 19th. The company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.04. Bank OZK had a net margin of 30.69% and a return on equity of 15.13%. The firm had revenue of $407.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $396.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.
Bank OZK Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 16th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 12th. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is presently 25.89%.
About Bank OZK
Bank OZK provides various retail and commercial banking services. The company accepts various deposit products, including non-interest-bearing checking, interest bearing transaction, business sweep, savings, money market, individual retirement, and other accounts, as well as time deposits. It also offers real estate, consumer and business purpose, indirect recreational vehicle and marine, commercial and industrial, government guaranteed, agricultural equipment, small business, lines of credit, homebuilder, and affordable housing loans; business aviation and subscription financing services; and mortgage and other lending products.