Bank OZK $OZK Shares Bought by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 103.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 105,814 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,900 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council owned about 0.09% of Bank OZK worth $5,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OZK. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank OZK during the third quarter worth $2,141,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Bank OZK during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,026,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Bank OZK by 160.6% during the second quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 107,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,035,000 after buying an additional 65,946 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 64.6% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 78,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,014,000 after buying an additional 30,888 shares during the period. Finally, Villanova Investment Management Co LLC increased its position in shares of Bank OZK by 37.1% in the third quarter. Villanova Investment Management Co LLC now owns 125,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,412,000 after acquiring an additional 34,049 shares in the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on OZK shares. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $64.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup restated a “sell” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $62.00 price objective on Bank OZK in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Bank OZK currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.22.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OZK opened at $47.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.64 and a beta of 0.93. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.38.

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

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

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

Bank OZK Company 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.