Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 316,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,077,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.28% of Bank OZK at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,106,907 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,526,000 after purchasing an additional 485,172 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,223,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,198 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,130,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,909,000 after purchasing an additional 188,575 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,022,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,989,000 after purchasing an additional 126,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 124.6% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,698,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,034,000 after purchasing an additional 942,309 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Price Performance

OZK opened at $44.19 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Bank OZK has a 1 year low of $37.43 and a 1 year high of $53.64. The firm has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.20 and a beta of 1.23.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.12. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 25.83%. The business had revenue of $412.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $407.19 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. Bank OZK’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 14th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OZK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on Bank OZK in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Bank OZK from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.38.

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.