HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 1,518 Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,647 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,518 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Shares of OZK stock opened at $43.73 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a PE ratio of 7.12 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $48.19 and a 200-day moving average of $46.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Bank OZK has a one year low of $37.43 and a one year high of $53.64.

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

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 14th. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on OZK shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Bank OZK from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.38.

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.