Blue Trust Inc. Sells 1,938 Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 48.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,026 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,938 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $90,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in OZK. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Bank OZK in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 81.3% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 73.8% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Bank OZK in the third quarter valued at about $61,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 424.8% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 1,287 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Bank OZK Stock Performance

NASDAQ:OZK opened at $47.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $37.43 and a 12-month high of $53.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $47.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.73 and a beta of 1.20.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $407.19 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 25.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 14th. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.36%.

About Bank OZK

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.