Royal Bank of Canada Purchases 14,404 Shares of Bank OZK $OZK

Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 49.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,748 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,404 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $2,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Bank OZK by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Kera Capital Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 11,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 48,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,254,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 38,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,761,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of OZK opened at $51.11 on Tuesday. Bank OZK has a one year low of $42.37 and a one year high of $53.66. The company has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.75.

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

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 13th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 13th. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is 31.74%.

Bank OZK declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, June 29th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OZK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Bank OZK from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Three equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.88.

Bank OZK 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.