Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Position in Bank OZK $OZK

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Bank OZK in the first quarter, buying 30,100 shares valued at about $1.38 million.
• Institutional interest in Bank OZK remains strong, with investors owning 86.18% of the stock. Several large funds increased holdings, including Wasatch Advisors, State Street, and Fairholme Capital Management.
• Bank OZK recently announced a higher quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share and approved a $200 million share repurchase program, signaling confidence in the stock and returning more capital to shareholders.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 30,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,381,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 34.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,437,646 shares of the company's stock valued at $379,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,924,387 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Bank OZK during the fourth quarter worth $59,809,000. State Street Corp lifted 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 purchasing an additional 546,785 shares during the last quarter. Fairholme Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 45.1% in the second quarter. Fairholme Capital Management LLC now owns 916,752 shares of the company's stock worth $43,142,000 after purchasing an additional 285,150 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in Bank OZK in the third quarter worth $13,014,000. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company's stock.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of OZK opened at $49.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $49.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Bank OZK has a 12 month low of $42.37 and a 12 month high of $53.66.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $424.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $422.62 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.27% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, June 29th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, July 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This is a boost from Bank OZK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Bank OZK's dividend payout ratio is 30.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OZK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note 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 report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.33.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding OZK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.