Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Bank OZK has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from eight analysts, with an average target price of $54.25.
• The company recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.58, exceeding estimates, with significant revenue of $428.04 million.
• Bank OZK has increased its dividend to $0.44 per share, reflecting a yield of 3.4% and a dividend payout ratio (DPR) of 28.57%.

Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the eight brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.25.

A number of research firms have recently commented on OZK. Stephens raised Bank OZK from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Raymond James Financial raised Bank OZK from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $58.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st.

Bank OZK Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of OZK traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $52.26. 307,187 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,161,890. The stock has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 0.92. The stock's 50-day moving average is $50.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.39. Bank OZK has a 12 month low of $35.71 and a 12 month high of $53.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $428.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $423.41 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 25.83%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Investors of record on Friday, July 11th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. This is a positive change from Bank OZK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Bank OZK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.57%.

Institutional Trading of Bank OZK

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of OZK. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Bank OZK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $762,000. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 25,449 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 3,997 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 70,182 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,126,000 after purchasing an additional 5,173 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,015,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,236,000 after purchasing an additional 263,913 shares during the period. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Bank OZK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Hedge funds and other 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.