B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Acquires 2,072 Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG grew its holdings in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 87,937 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,072 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG owned about 0.08% of Bank OZK worth $3,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in OZK. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 254,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,958,000 after buying an additional 59,907 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank OZK by 6.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,022,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,989,000 after acquiring an additional 126,352 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Bank OZK by 68.6% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 34,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,499,000 after purchasing an additional 14,189 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Bank OZK by 112.8% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 51,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,223,000 after purchasing an additional 27,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,758 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OZK opened at $43.45 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a PE ratio of 7.08 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.16. Bank OZK has a 1-year low of $37.43 and a 1-year high of $53.64.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $407.19 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.83% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 14th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.36%.

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.