Bank OZK $OZK Shares Sold by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 4.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 297,669 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,260 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $15,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Bank OZK by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Bank OZK by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 11,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Bank OZK by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 38,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,761,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

NASDAQ:OZK opened at $50.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Bank OZK has a 1-year low of $42.37 and a 1-year high of $53.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $50.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.78. The stock has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.34 and a beta of 0.88.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $430.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.42 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 11.87% and a net margin of 24.95%.Bank OZK’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, June 29th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 13th. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is presently 31.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on OZK. UBS Group boosted their target price on Bank OZK from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Bank OZK from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank OZK presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.88.

About Bank OZK

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.