Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) had its price objective upped by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $56.00 to $57.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 23.38% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Friday, September 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on Bank OZK from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Bank OZK from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.86.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Shares of OZK stock opened at $46.20 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.64 and a beta of 0.88. Bank OZK has a 52 week low of $42.37 and a 52 week high of $53.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.71 and a 200-day moving average of $48.84.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Bank OZK had a net margin of 24.95% and a return on equity of 11.87%. The company had revenue of $430.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $436.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. Bank OZK’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 5.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, June 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Bank OZK

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in Bank OZK in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Bank OZK by 1,307.5% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 218.9% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $97,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Company Profile

Bank OZK is a regional financial institution headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. The company provides banking services to individuals, businesses and institutions through a network of banking offices concentrated in the Southeastern United States and select markets, including New York and California.

Its products and services include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial real estate loans, consumer lending, commercial and industrial financing, treasury management and other business banking solutions.