Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Trading 2.7% Higher Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) traded up 2.7% on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $42.99 and last traded at $42.96. 121,522 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 1,166,475 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.82.

The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.07. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 15.13% and a net margin of 30.69%. The firm had revenue of $406.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $396.81 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.41 EPS.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on OZK shares. UBS Group lowered Bank OZK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Bank OZK from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Bank OZK from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Bank OZK from $62.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Bank OZK from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank OZK presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.14.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,791,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235,144 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,028,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,394,000 after purchasing an additional 502,005 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,557,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,079,000 after purchasing an additional 55,553 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 1,508.4% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,313,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,237,000 after purchasing an additional 4,045,472 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,994,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,018,000 after purchasing an additional 35,215 shares during the period. 86.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank OZK Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.46 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.15.

Bank OZK Company Profile

Bank OZK provides various retail and commercial banking services for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company offers deposit services, including non-interest bearing checking, interest bearing transaction, business sweep, savings, money market, individual retirement, and other accounts, as well as time and reciprocal deposits.