Cerity Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Free Report) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,590 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,873 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC owned 0.05% of Bank OZK worth $2,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of OZK. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 254,874 shares of the company's stock worth $10,958,000 after acquiring an additional 59,907 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 6.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,022,979 shares of the company's stock valued at $86,989,000 after buying an additional 126,352 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Bank OZK by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,758 shares of the company's stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Bank OZK by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 342,417 shares of the company's stock worth $15,248,000 after acquiring an additional 5,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Bank OZK in the fourth quarter valued at $307,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on OZK shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $49.38.

Bank OZK Trading Up 5.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ OZK traded up $2.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $41.63. 2,706,623 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,334,284. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $44.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.78 and a beta of 1.05. Bank OZK has a 52-week low of $35.71 and a 52-week high of $53.64.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.05. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.83% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The firm had revenue of $409.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $403.05 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.13%. This is an increase from Bank OZK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Bank OZK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.20%.

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.