Hodges Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Bank OZK $OZK

Key Points

• Hodges Capital Management cut its Bank OZK stake by 25.1% in Q1, selling 84,270 shares and ending with 251,576 shares worth about $11.5 million.
• Bank OZK’s latest earnings slightly missed analyst EPS estimates, though revenue came in a bit ahead of expectations and rose 2.2% year over year.
• The bank raised its quarterly dividend to $0.48 per share and approved a $200 million share buyback, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold.

Hodges Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Free Report) by 25.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 251,576 shares of the company's stock after selling 84,270 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Bank OZK worth $11,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OZK. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,301,000. Ruffer LLP acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,137,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the fourth quarter worth $2,263,000. UBS Group AG grew its position in Bank OZK by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 531,843 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,475,000 after buying an additional 63,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 284,258 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,371,000 after acquiring an additional 50,258 shares in the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on OZK. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bank OZK from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $56.33.

Bank OZK Price Performance

OZK opened at $49.84 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $49.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.92. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $42.37 and a 12-month high of $53.66. The firm has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $424.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $422.62 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.27% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. This is a positive change from Bank OZK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Bank OZK's payout ratio is presently 30.62%.

Bank OZK announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, June 29th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Bank OZK Company Profile

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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