Norges Bank Purchases Shares of 1,299,638 Bank OZK $OZK

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,299,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,809,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OZK. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Bank OZK by 37.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 41,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after buying an additional 11,310 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Bank OZK by 14.0% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 46,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,029,000 after buying an additional 5,717 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Bank OZK by 1.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 60,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after buying an additional 1,058 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Bank OZK by 8.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 349,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,197,000 after buying an additional 26,676 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Bank OZK by 11.0% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 17,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $770,000 after buying an additional 1,756 shares during the period. 86.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Bank OZK from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Bank OZK from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Bank OZK in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank OZK presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.89.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Shares of Bank OZK stock opened at $49.60 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.27. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $42.37 and a 12-month high of $53.66.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $424.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $422.62 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.27% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.47 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 13th were paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 13th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is 30.62%.

Bank OZK Profile

Bank OZK, formerly known as Bank of the Ozarks, is a regional commercial bank headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Established in 1903, the bank offers a full suite of banking products and services to both individual and corporate clients. Through a combination of organic growth and targeted acquisitions, Bank OZK has built a diversified lending portfolio and a strong deposit franchise.

The bank’s core operations focus on commercial real estate lending, including acquisition, development and construction financing.