326,744 Shares in Bank OZK $OZK Bought by Nuveen LLC

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired a new stake in Bank OZK, purchasing 326,744 shares valued at approximately $14.20 million, which accounts for about 0.29% of the company.
• Bank OZK recently declared an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share, reflecting a positive change from the previous $0.43, with a current annualized yield of 3.5%.
• Investment analysts are optimistic about Bank OZK, as some brokerages have upgraded their ratings and target prices, with a consensus target price of $54.25 and three analysts rating it as a "Buy."

Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 326,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,197,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.29% of Bank OZK as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank OZK by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,350,220 shares of the company's stock worth $189,017,000 after purchasing an additional 220,214 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,811,354 shares of the company's stock worth $125,190,000 after acquiring an additional 314,488 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,786,155 shares of the company's stock worth $79,537,000 after acquiring an additional 87,299 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,127,576 shares of the company's stock worth $48,993,000 after acquiring an additional 23,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 35.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on OZK shares. 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. 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. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $54.25.

Bank OZK Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of OZK stock traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $53.14. 1,396,134 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 891,887. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $49.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.43. The stock has a market cap of $6.04 billion, a PE ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 0.86. Bank OZK has a 12 month low of $35.71 and a 12 month high of $53.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

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

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

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