Stephens Reaffirms “Equal Weight” Rating for Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Stephens reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $53.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Bank OZK from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Bank OZK from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank OZK has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.50.

Bank OZK Trading Up 9.7 %

Shares of Bank OZK stock opened at $49.74 on Friday. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $37.43 and a 12-month high of $51.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.12. Bank OZK had a net margin of 26.07% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The company had revenue of $412.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $407.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. Bank OZK’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is 27.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank OZK

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OZK. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Bank OZK by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 254,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,958,000 after acquiring an additional 59,907 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Bank OZK by 6.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,022,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,989,000 after purchasing an additional 126,352 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised 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 boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 112.8% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 51,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,223,000 after purchasing an additional 27,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 124.6% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,698,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,034,000 after buying an additional 942,309 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Company Profile

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.