Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Receives “Equal Weight” Rating from Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley restated their equal weight rating on shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $48.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $62.00 to $57.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James raised shares of Bank OZK from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Bank OZK from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $48.25.

Bank OZK Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ OZK opened at $45.18 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 1.27. Bank OZK has a 52-week low of $30.72 and a 52-week high of $52.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $406.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $396.81 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 28.54% and a return on equity of 14.84%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Investors of record on Friday, April 12th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank OZK

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OZK. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 303.9% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 25.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 601.0% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

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.