Vanguard Group Inc. Has $492.47 Million Stock Position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,334,145 shares of the company’s stock after selling 167,711 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.99% of Bank OZK worth $492,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in Bank OZK by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 78,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,474,000 after purchasing an additional 7,945 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Bank OZK by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 135,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,018,000 after purchasing an additional 12,663 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Bank OZK by 47.6% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,526 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Bank OZK by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 46,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,085,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Bank OZK by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 573,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,541,000 after purchasing an additional 34,240 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Price Performance

NASDAQ OZK opened at $50.29 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.44. Bank OZK has a 52-week low of $35.71 and a 52-week high of $53.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.16 and a beta of 0.86.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.07. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.24% and a net margin of 25.83%. The business had revenue of $428.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $423.41 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Investors of record on Friday, July 11th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 11th. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on OZK. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.88.

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.