Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 36,755 Shares of Bank OZK $OZK

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Bank OZK by 48.2% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.10% of the company, valued at around $4.9 million.
• Bank OZK recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, highlighting an annualized dividend of $1.76 and a dividend yield of 3.5%, an increase from the previous quarter's $0.43.
• Analysts have varied outlooks on OZK stock, with Wells Fargo upgrading its price target to $49.00 and Stephens raising it to $65.00, indicating a generally positive sentiment among several analysts.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Free Report) by 48.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,082 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 36,755 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.10% of Bank OZK worth $4,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Bank OZK by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,798 shares of the company's stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 1,151 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired a new stake in Bank OZK in the 1st quarter valued at $8,500,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Bank OZK in the 1st quarter valued at $14,197,000. Virtu Financial LLC increased its stake in Bank OZK by 332.2% in the 1st quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 27,896 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,212,000 after buying an additional 21,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Bank OZK in the 1st quarter valued at $140,000. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Shares of OZK stock traded up $1.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $53.14. 1,396,134 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 891,887. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $49.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.43. Bank OZK has a 52 week low of $35.71 and a 52 week high of $53.66.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on OZK. Stephens upgraded shares of Bank OZK from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Bank OZK from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $54.25.

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.