Hodges Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Bank OZK $OZK

Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 107,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,491,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 58.2% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Bank OZK by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its stake in Bank OZK by 82.2% during the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 0.6% in the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 51,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burford Brothers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 2.5% in the third quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. now owns 13,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

OZK stock opened at $49.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $48.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $48.40. Bank OZK has a 12 month low of $35.71 and a 12 month high of $53.66. The company has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.02 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

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

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th were given a $0.46 dividend. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 13th. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is presently 29.82%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OZK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens lowered their price target on Bank OZK from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Bank OZK from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank OZK has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.78.

About Bank OZK

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.