Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 14,216 Shares of Bank OZK $OZK

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,462,377 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,216 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.06% of Bank OZK worth $329,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Bank OZK by 274.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 18,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $943,000 after buying an additional 13,547 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its holdings in Bank OZK by 179.7% in the third quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 37,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,930,000 after purchasing an additional 24,319 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council increased its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 103.8% during the third quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 105,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,394,000 after purchasing an additional 53,900 shares in the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 1.4% during the third quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $857,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 7.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 350,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,861,000 after purchasing an additional 24,752 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on OZK shares. TD Cowen cut their price target on Bank OZK from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Stephens lowered their price target on Bank OZK from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.22.

Bank OZK Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Bank OZK stock opened at $46.45 on Friday. Bank OZK has a twelve month low of $35.71 and a twelve month high of $53.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company’s 50 day moving average is $48.08 and its 200 day moving average is $48.36. The company has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 0.93.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $436.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $434.68 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.50% and a return on equity of 12.65%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th were issued a $0.46 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 13th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.82%.

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.