Gotham Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,842 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $260,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in OZK. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Bank OZK in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,114,000. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,102,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149,880 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,945,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,162,000 after purchasing an additional 686,775 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank OZK in the fourth quarter valued at about $14,077,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,811,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,190,000 after purchasing an additional 314,488 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

NASDAQ:OZK opened at $46.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 7.55 and a beta of 0.85. Bank OZK has a 1-year low of $35.71 and a 1-year high of $53.64.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $409.23 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $403.05 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.83% and a return on equity of 13.90%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th were given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 14th. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is currently 28.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Stephens cut their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.13.

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.