Bank OZK $OZK Shares Bought by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 61.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 69,561 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 26,439 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $3,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank OZK in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,567,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 6.2% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 18,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $837,000 after acquiring an additional 1,063 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. acquired a new position in Bank OZK in the 1st quarter valued at about $580,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Bank OZK in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,381,000. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 4.4% during the first quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on OZK shares. TD Cowen downgraded Bank OZK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $53.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Bank OZK from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.44.

Bank OZK Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of OZK stock traded up $0.45 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.10. 219,470 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,261,331. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. Bank OZK has a twelve month low of $42.37 and a twelve month high of $53.66. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.15 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is currently 30.62%.

Bank OZK announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, June 29th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.