AWH Capital L.P. Purchases Shares of 53,500 Bank OZK $OZK

Key Points

• AWH Capital L.P. acquired 53,500 shares of Bank OZK, valued at approximately $2,325,000, making it the firm's 14th biggest holding.
• Bank OZK recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.43 to $0.44 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.4%.
• The company reported earnings of $1.58 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates and displaying strong financial performance with a return on equity of 13.24%.

AWH Capital L.P. bought a new position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 53,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,325,000. Bank OZK comprises approximately 3.4% of AWH Capital L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,350,220 shares of the company's stock worth $189,017,000 after purchasing an additional 220,214 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,405,292 shares of the company's stock worth $104,510,000 after purchasing an additional 228,295 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,786,155 shares of the company's stock worth $79,537,000 after purchasing an additional 87,299 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,127,576 shares of the company's stock worth $48,993,000 after purchasing an additional 23,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,015,853 shares of the company's stock worth $45,236,000 after purchasing an additional 263,913 shares during the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on OZK. Raymond James Financial upgraded Bank OZK from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Stephens upgraded Bank OZK from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.25.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Shares of OZK traded down $0.58 on Friday, reaching $52.35. 746,295 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 765,209. The firm has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.50 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Bank OZK has a 12 month low of $35.71 and a 12 month high of $53.66. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $50.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.45.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.07. The business 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 11th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost 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%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. Bank OZK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.57%.

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.