Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Piper Sandler set a $62.00 price objective on Bank OZK in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Bank OZK from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on Bank OZK from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.89.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

NASDAQ OZK opened at $48.50 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $46.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.81. Bank OZK has a twelve month low of $42.37 and a twelve month high of $53.66. The company has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a PE ratio of 7.90 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). Bank OZK had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 25.27%.The business had revenue of $424.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $422.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 13th were issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 13th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank OZK

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of OZK. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 34.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,437,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924,387 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank OZK during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,809,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,556,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,712,000 after buying an additional 546,785 shares during the period. Fairholme Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 45.1% during the 2nd quarter. Fairholme Capital Management LLC now owns 916,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,142,000 after buying an additional 285,150 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Bank OZK during the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,014,000. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank OZK Company 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.