Virtu Financial LLC Purchases New Shares in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 1.9% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 13,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 31,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 15,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $701,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 46,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,083,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank OZK Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of OZK stock opened at $44.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.32 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Bank OZK has a fifty-two week low of $37.43 and a fifty-two week high of $53.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.03.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $412.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $407.19 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.83% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 14th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OZK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Bank OZK from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group started coverage on Bank OZK in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.38.

About Bank OZK

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.