Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.40

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, July 1st, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.40 per share on Friday, July 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 12th. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39.

Bank OZK has raised its dividend by an average of 9.6% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 28 consecutive years. Bank OZK has a payout ratio of 24.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Bank OZK to earn $6.33 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.6%.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of OZK traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 216,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,272,167. Bank OZK has a one year low of $34.76 and a one year high of $52.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.91 and a beta of 1.20.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $406.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $396.81 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 14.84% and a net margin of 28.54%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup lowered Bank OZK from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $57.00 to $37.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Bank OZK from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Bank OZK from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

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.