Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor Makes New $14.04 Million Investment in Bank OZK $OZK

Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor purchased a new stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 269,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,038,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Bank OZK during the second quarter worth $63,410,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Bank OZK by 17.0% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Bank OZK by 33.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 774,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,530,000 after purchasing an additional 192,237 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Bank OZK by 65.8% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 913 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Bank OZK by 31.4% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 133,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,112,000 after buying an additional 31,831 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of OZK opened at $51.11 on Tuesday. Bank OZK has a twelve month low of $42.37 and a twelve month high of $53.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.75.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $430.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $436.42 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 11.87% and a net margin of 24.95%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, June 29th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 13th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 13th. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on OZK shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.88.

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.