Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.50.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 21st. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Bank OZK from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th.

Institutional Trading of Bank OZK

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the second quarter valued at approximately $873,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the third quarter worth $529,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank OZK by 115.0% during the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 715,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,350,000 after acquiring an additional 382,896 shares during the period. M&G Plc raised its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 12.4% in the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 210,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,643,000 after acquiring an additional 23,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new position in Bank OZK in the second quarter valued at $3,623,000. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank OZK Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:OZK opened at $49.94 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50-day moving average is $44.78 and its 200 day moving average is $43.25. Bank OZK has a 1 year low of $37.43 and a 1 year high of $52.36.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.02. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 26.07%. The firm had revenue of $423.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $419.08 million. On average, research analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 11th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.97%.

About Bank OZK

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.