1,192,760 Shares in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,192,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,114,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.05% of Bank OZK at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of OZK. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bank OZK during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Bank OZK during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank OZK by 176.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank OZK by 81.3% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the 4th quarter worth approximately $93,000. 86.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OZK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Bank OZK in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Bank OZK from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stephens upped their price target on Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.38.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

NASDAQ OZK opened at $38.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Bank OZK has a twelve month low of $35.80 and a twelve month high of $53.64. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $47.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.08. The firm has a market cap of $4.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.21 and a beta of 1.05.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $412.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $407.19 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 25.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be issued 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 yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is currently 28.01%.

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.