TD Cowen Cuts Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Price Target to $56.00

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) had its price target reduced by TD Cowen from $61.00 to $56.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Bank OZK from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Zacks Research downgraded Bank OZK from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Bank OZK from $63.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. National Bankshares set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.00.

Bank OZK Stock Up 0.5%

Bank OZK stock opened at $48.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.79 and a beta of 0.90. Bank OZK has a 52-week low of $35.71 and a 52-week high of $53.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $46.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.79.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.66 by ($0.07). Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.00% and a net margin of 25.81%.The firm had revenue of $449.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $447.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank OZK

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in Bank OZK by 34.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,437,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924,387 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the second quarter worth approximately $68,960,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 767.1% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 566,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,667,000 after buying an additional 501,308 shares during the period. Senvest Management LLC raised its holdings in Bank OZK by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 1,581,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,429,000 after buying an additional 310,707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairholme Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Bank OZK by 45.1% during the 2nd quarter. Fairholme Capital Management LLC now owns 916,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,142,000 after buying an additional 285,150 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

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.