Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 150,971 Shares of Bank OZK $OZK

Great Lakes Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 176,234 shares of the company’s stock after selling 150,971 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $8,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Bank OZK in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Bank OZK by 147.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 58.2% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its position in Bank OZK by 82.2% during the third quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 665 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on OZK. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Monday, January 5th. Stephens cut their target price on Bank OZK from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Bank OZK from $56.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank OZK currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.78.

Bank OZK Trading Up 1.0%

OZK stock opened at $47.25 on Friday. Bank OZK has a 1-year low of $35.71 and a 1-year high of $53.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business’s 50 day moving average is $47.13 and its 200-day moving average is $48.58. The firm has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.66 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th were paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.82%.

Bank OZK Profile

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.