Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $56.8889.

OZK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Bank OZK from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of Bank OZK stock opened at $49.60 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.27. Bank OZK has a 52 week low of $42.37 and a 52 week high of $53.66. The company has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.27% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The business had revenue of $424.32 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $422.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.47 earnings per share. Bank OZK’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 13th were paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 13th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is presently 30.62%.

Institutional Trading of Bank OZK

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BOKF NA purchased a new stake in Bank OZK in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank OZK during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of Bank OZK by 100.5% during the 4th quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Bank OZK during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Bank OZK by 111.2% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

About Bank OZK

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.