Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Given Average Recommendation of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.50.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on OZK. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Raymond James lowered shares of Bank OZK from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank OZK

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OZK. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Bank OZK by 291.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,371,892 shares of the company's stock valued at $95,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,765,974 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Bank OZK by 32.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,223,452 shares of the company's stock valued at $181,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,198 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in Bank OZK by 124.6% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,698,856 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,034,000 after purchasing an additional 942,309 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Bank OZK by 196.4% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,365,393 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,981,000 after purchasing an additional 904,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Bank OZK by 483.9% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 980,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,195,000 after purchasing an additional 812,464 shares in the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Bank OZK stock traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $49.94. The company had a trading volume of 1,490,110 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,279,285. Bank OZK has a fifty-two week low of $37.43 and a fifty-two week high of $52.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.21 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.30.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $423.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $419.08 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 26.07% and a return on equity of 14.15%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Investors of record on Friday, October 11th were paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. This is an increase from Bank OZK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Bank OZK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.97%.

Bank OZK Company 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.