Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Stock Price Target Raised at Morgan Stanley

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $56.00 to $57.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Marketbeat reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on OZK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Bank OZK from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “sell” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.57.

Bank OZK Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Bank OZK stock opened at $46.61 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $49.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.83. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $42.37 and a 12-month high of $53.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 7.70 and a beta of 0.88.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $430.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.42 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 11.87% and a net margin of 24.95%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.47 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 5.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Monday, June 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 13th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. This is a positive change 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 presently 31.74%.

Institutional Trading of Bank OZK

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank OZK during the 2nd quarter worth about $4,293,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position 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 worth $35,530,000 after purchasing an additional 192,237 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Bank OZK by 2,971.0% during the first 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 during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 11.8% in the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 231,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,631,000 after purchasing an additional 24,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Bank OZK during the 2nd quarter valued at $63,410,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

About Bank OZK

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.