AlphaQuest LLC Reduces Stock Position in Bank OZK $OZK

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC reduced its holdings in Bank OZK by 30.7%, selling 9,970 shares in the first quarter, leaving it with 22,495 shares valued at approximately $977,000.
• Analysts have recently raised their price targets for Bank OZK, with Stephens upgrading it from "equal weight" to "overweight" and increasing the target price from $58.00 to $65.00.
• Bank OZK announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.43 to $0.44 per share, leading to a current annualized yield of 3.4%.

AlphaQuest LLC decreased its stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Free Report) by 30.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,495 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,970 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Bank OZK were worth $977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OZK. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Bank OZK during the first quarter valued at approximately $14,197,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Bank OZK by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,811,354 shares of the company's stock valued at $125,190,000 after purchasing an additional 314,488 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Bank OZK by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,015,853 shares of the company's stock worth $45,236,000 after acquiring an additional 263,913 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in Bank OZK in the first quarter worth approximately $11,297,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Bank OZK by 5,021.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 243,668 shares of the company's stock worth $10,587,000 after acquiring an additional 238,910 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OZK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of Bank OZK from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $54.25.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ OZK traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $52.63. The stock had a trading volume of 710,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,170,050. The company has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.54 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $49.87 and a 200-day moving average of $46.43. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $35.71 and a 12-month high of $53.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.02 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $428.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $423.41 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.83% and a return on equity of 13.24%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 11th. This is an increase from Bank OZK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Bank OZK's dividend payout ratio is 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.