Arkansas Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Arkansas Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,404 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,900 shares during the period. Arkansas Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of OZK. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 254,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,958,000 after buying an additional 59,907 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 6.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,022,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,989,000 after acquiring an additional 126,352 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 68.6% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 34,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,499,000 after purchasing an additional 14,189 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 112.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 51,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,223,000 after purchasing an additional 27,409 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 124.6% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,698,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,034,000 after purchasing an additional 942,309 shares in the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank OZK Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of OZK stock opened at $50.87 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Bank OZK has a 1-year low of $37.43 and a 1-year high of $51.50. The firm has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.29 and a beta of 1.20.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $412.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $407.19 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.83% and a return on equity of 13.90%. Bank OZK’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 14th. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OZK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Stephens raised their price objective on Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group began coverage on Bank OZK in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Bank OZK from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued 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 target price of $50.00.

Bank OZK 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.