Dark Forest Capital Management LP Grows Stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Free Report) by 139.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,524 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 13,694 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP's holdings in Bank OZK were worth $1,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank OZK during the 4th quarter valued at $53,114,000. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,102,657 shares of the company's stock valued at $316,281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149,880 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,945,480 shares of the company's stock worth $131,162,000 after purchasing an additional 686,775 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Bank OZK in the 4th quarter worth about $14,077,000. Finally, Twin Lions Management LLC purchased a new position in Bank OZK during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,516,000. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 report on Thursday, March 13th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.13.

Bank OZK Trading Up 0.1 %

OZK stock traded up $0.03 on Tuesday, reaching $43.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 183,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,328,304. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.85. The firm has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a PE ratio of 7.01 and a beta of 1.05. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $35.71 and a 12-month high of $53.64.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.05. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 25.83%. The company had revenue of $409.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $403.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from Bank OZK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 14th. Bank OZK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.20%.

Bank OZK 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.