Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.07 EPS

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.07, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $406.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $396.81 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 28.54% and a return on equity of 15.10%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ OZK traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $44.67. The stock had a trading volume of 674,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,186,742. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.15. Bank OZK has a twelve month low of $30.72 and a twelve month high of $52.36. The firm has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of 7.34 and a beta of 1.27.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 19th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th will be given a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 11th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on OZK shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Bank OZK from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Raymond James raised Bank OZK from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Bank OZK from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Bank OZK from $62.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank OZK

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OZK. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 59,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,669 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 105.9% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 26,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 13,527 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 51,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,558,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 164,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,191,000 after purchasing an additional 3,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,028,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,394,000 after purchasing an additional 502,005 shares during the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is 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.