Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Raises Position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 691.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 60,160 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,562 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $2,679,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Bank OZK during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 176.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 81.3% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 948 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Bank OZK by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens upped their price objective on Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Bank OZK from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.38.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Bank OZK stock opened at $44.26 on Tuesday. Bank OZK has a 52-week low of $37.43 and a 52-week high of $53.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $48.11 and its 200 day moving average is $45.93. The company has a market cap of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.21 and a beta of 1.23.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $412.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $407.19 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.83% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast 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 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is 27.36%.

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.