Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Purchases 2,690 Shares of Bank OZK $OZK

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,037 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,690 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. owned 0.07% of Bank OZK worth $3,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank OZK by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,406,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,390,000 after buying an additional 56,713 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Bank OZK by 9.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,631,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,843,000 after acquiring an additional 226,315 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Bank OZK by 1.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 312,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,692,000 after purchasing an additional 4,278 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Bank OZK during the second quarter valued at approximately $883,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 94.7% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 142,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,696,000 after purchasing an additional 69,217 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on OZK. Stephens upgraded Bank OZK from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $58.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Bank OZK from $55.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Zacks Research cut Bank OZK from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bank OZK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, National Bankshares set a $67.00 price target on Bank OZK in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.75.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Shares of OZK stock opened at $44.86 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $47.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.40. Bank OZK has a 52 week low of $35.71 and a 52 week high of $53.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 7.24 and a beta of 0.94.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.66 by ($0.07). Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.00% and a net margin of 25.81%.The company had revenue of $449.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $447.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 14th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 14th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.03%.

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.