First Trust Advisors LP Raises Stock Holdings in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 30.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,945,480 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 686,775 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 2.60% of Bank OZK worth $131,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,102,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149,880 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Bank OZK by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,130,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,909,000 after purchasing an additional 188,575 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,176,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,942,000 after buying an additional 238,810 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,038,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,798,000 after buying an additional 15,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,464,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,193,000 after buying an additional 142,587 shares during the period. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank OZK Trading Up 5.8 %

NASDAQ OZK opened at $41.63 on Friday. Bank OZK has a 52 week low of $35.71 and a 52 week high of $53.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 6.78 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $409.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $403.05 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 25.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 14th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.13%. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is presently 28.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.38.

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.