Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Reduces Position in Bank OZK $OZK

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP has reduced its stake in Bank OZK by 1.6%, now owning 6.5 million shares valued at approximately $282.6 million.
• Bank OZK recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.44 per share, reflecting a yield of 3.6% and a positive change from the previous $0.43 dividend.
• Wall Street analysts have varied ratings for Bank OZK, with upgrades from Raymond James Financial and mixed targets reflecting a general outlook of "Hold" with an average price target of $52.88.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Free Report) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,504,568 shares of the company's stock after selling 107,052 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 5.73% of Bank OZK worth $282,622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,350,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $189,017,000 after acquiring an additional 220,214 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Bank OZK by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,945,480 shares of the company's stock worth $131,162,000 after buying an additional 686,775 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,811,354 shares of the company's stock worth $125,190,000 after acquiring an additional 314,488 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 87,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 23,492 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.18% of the company's stock.

Bank OZK Trading Up 4.3%

NASDAQ:OZK traded up $2.1410 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $52.0510. 219,481 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,175,747. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $35.71 and a 12-month high of $53.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $49.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.42.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.07. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 25.83%.The business had revenue of $428.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $423.41 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current 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. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend yield of 3.4%. Bank OZK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on OZK. Stephens upgraded shares of Bank OZK from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $54.25.

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.