Raymond James Financial Inc. Increases Holdings in Bank OZK $OZK

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Bank OZK by 8.5%, now holding approximately $14.91 million worth of shares.
• Bank OZK's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $1.58 EPS against an estimated $1.51 EPS for the latest quarter.
• The company has recently announced a dividend increase, with a quarterly payout of $0.44 per share, up from the previous $0.43.

Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Free Report) by 8.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 343,066 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 26,946 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.30% of Bank OZK worth $14,906,000 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 the stock. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Bank OZK by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,575 shares of the company's stock valued at $961,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Bank OZK by 12.8% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,960 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Bank OZK by 1.0% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 29,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,286,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Bank OZK by 2.7% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 12,359 shares of the company's stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Bank OZK by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 38,327 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company's stock.

Bank OZK Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ OZK traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $52.25. 336,071 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,163,891. Bank OZK has a 52 week low of $35.71 and a 52 week high of $53.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $50.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.35. The stock has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a PE ratio of 8.48 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 25.83%.The business had revenue of $428.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $423.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 11th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. This is a boost from Bank OZK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. Bank OZK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OZK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stephens raised Bank OZK from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Bank OZK from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $54.25.

About Bank OZK

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.