Northern Trust Corp Cuts Stake in Bank OZK $OZK

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in Bank OZK by 2.2%, selling 22,193 shares and owning approximately 0.88% of the company worth $43.17 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Allspring Global Investments and Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc., have increased their holdings in Bank OZK during the first quarter.
• Bank OZK recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.44 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 3.3%, and reported earnings of $1.58 per share, exceeding analyst expectations.

Northern Trust Corp lowered its holdings in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 993,660 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,193 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.88% of Bank OZK worth $43,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Bank OZK by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,575 shares of the company's stock valued at $961,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Bank OZK by 12.8% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,960 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Bank OZK by 1.0% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 29,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Bank OZK by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 12,359 shares of the company's stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Bank OZK by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 38,327 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Stephens raised 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 report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Bank OZK from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $58.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $54.25.

Bank OZK Price Performance

OZK stock traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $52.65. The company had a trading volume of 664,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 810,641. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Bank OZK has a 1 year low of $35.71 and a 1 year high of $53.66. The company has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.55 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.43.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.07. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.83% and a return on equity of 13.24%. The business had revenue of $428.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $423.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 11th were paid a $0.44 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank OZK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 11th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Bank OZK's dividend payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Bank OZK 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.