Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Stock

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price indicates a potential downside of 7.70% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. 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 research note on Tuesday. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on Bank OZK from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $52.75.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Shares of OZK stock opened at $52.01 on Thursday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $46.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The firm has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a PE ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 0.85. Bank OZK has a 12 month low of $35.71 and a 12 month high of $53.64.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.05. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.46% and a net margin of 25.66%. The firm had revenue of $409.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $403.05 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Bank OZK

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank OZK in the 4th quarter valued at $53,114,000. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its stake in Bank OZK by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,102,657 shares of the company's stock valued at $316,281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149,880 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Bank OZK by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,945,480 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,162,000 after purchasing an additional 686,775 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the 1st quarter worth $14,197,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bank OZK during the fourth quarter worth about $14,077,000. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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