Baird Financial Group Inc. Acquires 25,067 Shares of Bank OZK $OZK

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. significantly increased its stake in Bank OZK by 119.3%, acquiring an additional 25,067 shares to reach a total of 46,080 shares valued at approximately $2,002,000.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.44 per share, reflecting a positive change from the previous quarter's $0.43 and yielding 3.4% annually.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Bank OZK, with Raymond James upgrading it to an "outperform" status and setting a price target of $58.00, while Wells Fargo set it at $49.00.

Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Free Report) by 119.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,080 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 25,067 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $2,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 5.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,350,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $189,017,000 after purchasing an additional 220,214 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 10.5% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,405,292 shares of the company's stock valued at $104,510,000 after purchasing an additional 228,295 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 2.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,127,576 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,993,000 after purchasing an additional 23,492 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 753,854 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,569,000 after purchasing an additional 48,789 shares during the period. Finally, Newport Trust Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 0.6% in the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 656,987 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,546,000 after purchasing an additional 4,146 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company's stock.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of OZK opened at $52.35 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $50.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.40. Bank OZK has a fifty-two week low of $35.71 and a fifty-two week high of $53.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of 8.50 and a beta of 0.92. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.07. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.83% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The company had revenue of $428.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $423.41 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Investors of record on Friday, July 11th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 11th. This is a positive change from Bank OZK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Bank OZK's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OZK has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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. Stephens raised shares of 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 research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank OZK has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $54.25.

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.

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