Foster & Motley Inc. Acquires Shares of 20,262 Bank OZK $OZK

Key Points

• Foster & Motley initiated a Bank OZK position by purchasing 20,262 shares worth approximately $1.055 million in the second quarter.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 86.18%, with several major investors—including Wasatch Advisors, State Street and Fairholme Capital—raising their stakes.
• Bank OZK reported quarterly EPS of $1.49, slightly exceeding estimates, while increasing its dividend to $0.48 per quarter and authorizing a $200 million share-repurchase program. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $56.88.

Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 20,262 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,055,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of OZK. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 34.9% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,437,646 shares of the company's stock worth $379,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924,387 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the 4th quarter worth about $59,809,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,410,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Bank OZK by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,556,105 shares of the company's stock worth $301,712,000 after acquiring an additional 546,785 shares during the period. Finally, Fairholme Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Bank OZK by 45.1% during the second quarter. Fairholme Capital Management LLC now owns 916,752 shares of the company's stock worth $43,142,000 after acquiring an additional 285,150 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company's stock.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of OZK opened at $49.48 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $51.03 and its 200-day moving average is $48.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 0.97. Bank OZK has a one year low of $42.37 and a one year high of $53.66.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $430.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $436.42 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 24.95% and a return on equity of 11.87%. Bank OZK's revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, June 29th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 13th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. This is a boost from Bank OZK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Bank OZK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on OZK shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Bank OZK from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research downgraded Bank OZK from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Bank OZK from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Bank OZK from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.88.

About Bank OZK

Bank OZK, formerly known as Bank of the Ozarks, is a regional commercial bank headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Established in 1903, the bank offers a full suite of banking products and services to both individual and corporate clients. Through a combination of organic growth and targeted acquisitions, Bank OZK has built a diversified lending portfolio and a strong deposit franchise.

The bank's core operations focus on commercial real estate lending, including acquisition, development and construction financing.

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