Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 31.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 82,829 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,049 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $3,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in Bank OZK by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 13,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 15,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 46,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,083,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Bank OZK by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 7,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. 86.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank OZK Trading Down 1.8 %

OZK opened at $50.51 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a PE ratio of 8.23 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day moving average of $47.72 and a 200-day moving average of $45.36. Bank OZK has a 52 week low of $37.43 and a 52 week high of $53.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $412.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $407.19 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 25.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is presently 27.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on OZK shares. UBS Group began coverage on Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Bank OZK from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.00.

Bank OZK Company Profile

Bank OZK provides various retail and commercial banking services for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company offers deposit services, including non-interest bearing checking, interest bearing transaction, business sweep, savings, money market, individual retirement, and other accounts, as well as time and reciprocal deposits.