Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,028,779 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 502,005 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.63% of Bank OZK worth $599,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OZK. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bank OZK by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Bank OZK in the 3rd quarter worth about $228,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bank OZK by 44.0% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 289,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,739,000 after buying an additional 88,504 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Bank OZK by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 413,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,335,000 after buying an additional 38,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Bank OZK by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 33,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,236,000 after buying an additional 4,667 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Bank OZK stock opened at $39.38 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $43.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.47 billion, a PE ratio of 6.60 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Bank OZK has a one year low of $34.76 and a one year high of $52.36.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released its quarterly 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. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 14.84% and a net margin of 28.54%. The firm had revenue of $406.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $396.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is currently 26.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on OZK. Citigroup lowered Bank OZK from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $57.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Bank OZK from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $48.00 price objective on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

Bank OZK 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.