Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Position Reduced by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 218,230 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,266 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.19% of Bank OZK worth $10,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in OZK. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Bank OZK by 25.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Bank OZK during the fourth quarter valued at $73,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bank OZK in the 3rd quarter worth about $219,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Bank OZK during the 3rd quarter worth about $228,000. Finally, Dfpg Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the 4th quarter valued at about $231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Bank OZK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Bank OZK from $62.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.14.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

OZK opened at $45.44 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.93 and a 200-day moving average of $43.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.01. Bank OZK has a 52-week low of $30.72 and a 52-week high of $52.36. The company has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a PE ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 1.27.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.07. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 14.84% and a net margin of 28.54%. The company had revenue of $406.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $396.81 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is currently 26.13%.

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.