AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 314,488 Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,811,354 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 314,488 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $125,190,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Bank OZK by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 254,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,958,000 after buying an additional 59,907 shares during the period. Rule One Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Bank OZK in the third quarter worth about $1,720,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Bank OZK by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,758 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 20,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $922,000 after purchasing an additional 3,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 56,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on OZK. Stephens reduced their price objective on Bank OZK from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Bank OZK from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.13.

Bank OZK Price Performance

OZK opened at $42.94 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.83. Bank OZK has a 52-week low of $35.71 and a 52-week high of $53.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.05. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.83% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The company had revenue of $409.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $403.05 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 14th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.20%.

Bank OZK Profile

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.