Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Bank OZK has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from ten analysts, with one sell, four hold, and five buy ratings issued.
• The company recently reported earnings of $1.59 per share, missing estimates of $1.66, while its revenue of $449.94 million exceeded expectations.
• Bank OZK declared a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, increasing from its previous dividend of $0.44, with a dividend yield of 3.9%.

Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Hold" by the ten analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $57.2222.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on OZK shares. Raymond James Financial upgraded Bank OZK from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Cowen started coverage on Bank OZK in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Bank OZK from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Bank OZK in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stephens upgraded Bank OZK from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank OZK

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 58.2% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 590 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 12.8% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,960 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 20.8% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,507 shares of the company's stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 1.0% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 29,600 shares of the company's stock worth $1,286,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 82.2% in the third quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 665 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of OZK stock opened at $45.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.41 and a beta of 0.88. Bank OZK has a fifty-two week low of $35.71 and a fifty-two week high of $53.66. The business's 50 day moving average price is $51.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.66 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $449.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.93 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 25.81%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 14th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost from Bank OZK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 14th. Bank OZK's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.22%.

About Bank OZK

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.

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