Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Makes New $2.14 Million Investment in Bank OZK $OZK

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 42,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,141,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in OZK. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 7.1% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 16,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $776,000 after buying an additional 1,088 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its position in Bank OZK by 160.6% during the second quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 107,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,035,000 after acquiring an additional 65,946 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Bank OZK by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 694,956 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,705,000 after purchasing an additional 253,001 shares in the last quarter. Twin Lions Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Twin Lions Management LLC now owns 340,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,016,000 after purchasing an additional 63,800 shares during the period. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $773,000. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on OZK. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Bank OZK from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 20th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $51.00 price target on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Piper Sandler set a $62.00 price target on Bank OZK in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.78.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

NASDAQ:OZK opened at $46.47 on Wednesday. Bank OZK has a twelve month low of $35.71 and a twelve month high of $53.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 7.53 and a beta of 0.90.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.56 by ($0.03). Bank OZK had a return on equity of 12.65% and a net margin of 25.50%.The company had revenue of $436.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $434.68 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th were given a $0.46 dividend. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 13th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.82%.

About Bank OZK

Bank OZK, formerly known as Bank of the Ozarks, is a regional commercial bank headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Established in 1903, the bank offers a full suite of banking products and services to both individual and corporate clients. Through a combination of organic growth and targeted acquisitions, Bank OZK has built a diversified lending portfolio and a strong deposit franchise.

The bank’s core operations focus on commercial real estate lending, including acquisition, development and construction financing.