Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 19,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $853,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 254,874 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,958,000 after acquiring an additional 59,907 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Bank OZK by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 342,417 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,248,000 after purchasing an additional 5,538 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Bank OZK in the fourth quarter valued at about $307,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in Bank OZK in the 4th quarter worth about $227,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 60.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,727 shares of the company's stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 1,788 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.18% of the company's stock.

Bank OZK Price Performance

NASDAQ OZK traded down $0.36 during trading on Monday, reaching $46.57. 690,777 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,338,146. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $42.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.89. Bank OZK has a 1-year low of $35.71 and a 1-year high of $53.64. The company has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 0.85.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $409.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $403.05 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 25.83%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. This is a positive change from Bank OZK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 14th. Bank OZK's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OZK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank OZK currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.13.

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.