Weiss Ratings Reaffirms Buy (B) Rating for Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reiterated its "buy (B)" rating for Bank OZK, highlighting confidence in the company's performance amidst various analysts' ratings.
• Bank OZK's stock price is currently at $52.03, with a consensus target price of $57.80 from analysts, indicating potential for growth.
• Institutional investors hold a significant stake in Bank OZK, with 86.18% of the stock owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating reiterated by research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial raised 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. National Bankshares set a $67.00 price objective on Bank OZK in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Bank OZK from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Stephens upgraded Bank OZK from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $65.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on Bank OZK in a report on Thursday, September 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank OZK presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $57.80.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Bank OZK stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $52.03. 1,020,309 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,132,349. Bank OZK has a 1 year low of $35.71 and a 1 year high of $53.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.45 and a beta of 0.88. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $51.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.35.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $428.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $423.41 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 25.83%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Bank OZK

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank OZK during the second quarter worth about $68,960,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 767.1% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 566,662 shares of the company's stock worth $26,667,000 after purchasing an additional 501,308 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Bank OZK in the first quarter worth about $14,197,000. Senvest Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 24.4% in the second quarter. Senvest Management LLC now owns 1,581,582 shares of the company's stock worth $74,429,000 after acquiring an additional 310,707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC bought a new position in Bank OZK in the first quarter worth about $12,696,000. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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