Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Stock Rating Raised to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Bank OZK from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $56.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on Bank OZK from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank OZK currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.43.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

NASDAQ OZK opened at $46.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.75 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Bank OZK has a twelve month low of $42.37 and a twelve month high of $53.39. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.81.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company 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%.Bank OZK’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 5.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 13th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.74%.

Bank OZK announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, June 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank OZK

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Bank OZK during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,293,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Bank OZK by 33.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 774,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,530,000 after acquiring an additional 192,237 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 2,971.0% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 33,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,543,000 after purchasing an additional 32,532 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 11.8% in the first quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 231,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,631,000 after buying an additional 24,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Bank OZK in the 2nd quarter worth $63,410,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Company Profile

Bank OZK is a regional financial institution headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. The company provides banking services to individuals, businesses and institutions through a network of banking offices concentrated in the Southeastern United States and select markets, including New York and California.

Its products and services include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial real estate loans, consumer lending, commercial and industrial financing, treasury management and other business banking solutions.