Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Lowered to "Sell" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Bank OZK from a “hold” to a “sell” rating, adding to a mixed analyst picture for the stock.
• Despite the downgrade, the overall analyst consensus remains “Hold”, with five Buy ratings, five Hold ratings, and one Sell rating, and a consensus price target of $56.89.
• Bank OZK recently reported quarterly EPS of $1.44, slightly below expectations, while revenue came in a bit above estimates; the stock opened at $48.50 and trades below its consensus target.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on OZK. UBS Group assumed coverage on Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Bank OZK from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bank OZK from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Bank OZK from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank OZK presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.89.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

NASDAQ OZK opened at $48.50 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The business's 50 day moving average is $46.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.81. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $42.37 and a 12-month high of $53.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 0.91.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $424.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $422.62 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 25.27%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. Research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Bank OZK

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of OZK. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in Bank OZK by 34.9% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,437,646 shares of the company's stock worth $379,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924,387 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Bank OZK in the fourth quarter worth about $59,809,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Bank OZK by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,556,105 shares of the company's stock worth $301,712,000 after purchasing an additional 546,785 shares in the last quarter. Fairholme Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Bank OZK by 45.1% in the second quarter. Fairholme Capital Management LLC now owns 916,752 shares of the company's stock worth $43,142,000 after purchasing an additional 285,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in Bank OZK in the third quarter worth about $13,014,000. 86.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Bank OZK

Bank OZK, formerly known as Bank of the Ozarks, is a regional commercial bank headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Established in 1903, the bank offers a full suite of banking products and services to both individual and corporate clients. Through a combination of organic growth and targeted acquisitions, Bank OZK has built a diversified lending portfolio and a strong deposit franchise.

The bank's core operations focus on commercial real estate lending, including acquisition, development and construction financing.

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