Raymond James Financial Upgrades Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) to Outperform

Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Free Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $58.00 target price on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on OZK. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Stephens lowered their price objective on Bank OZK from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Bank OZK from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.75.

Bank OZK Price Performance

NASDAQ OZK traded up $1.54 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.97. 2,017,842 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,217,251. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a PE ratio of 8.52 and a beta of 0.85. Bank OZK has a fifty-two week low of $35.71 and a fifty-two week high of $53.64. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $45.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.55.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $409.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $403.05 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.46% and a net margin of 25.66%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 11th. This is an increase from Bank OZK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Bank OZK's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.20%.

Institutional Trading of Bank OZK

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank OZK by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 23,693 shares of the company's stock worth $1,029,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Bank OZK by 55.4% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 129,980 shares of the company's stock worth $5,639,000 after buying an additional 46,349 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Bank OZK by 5,021.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 243,668 shares of the company's stock worth $10,587,000 after buying an additional 238,910 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Bank OZK by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 34,815 shares of the company's stock worth $1,550,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank OZK by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,832 shares of the company's stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.