Wasatch Advisors LP Sells 818,947 Shares of Bank OZK $OZK

Wasatch Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 11.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,126,398 shares of the company’s stock after selling 818,947 shares during the quarter. Bank OZK comprises approximately 1.9% of Wasatch Advisors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Wasatch Advisors LP owned approximately 5.48% of Bank OZK worth $281,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in OZK. Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the first quarter valued at $580,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Bank OZK during the 1st quarter worth about $1,381,000. BTC Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $893,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. Weybosset Research & Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank OZK by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Weybosset Research & Management LLC now owns 239,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Finally, Evolve Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Bank OZK by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 19,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $897,000 after buying an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.89.

Bank OZK Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:OZK opened at $52.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a PE ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. Bank OZK has a 52-week low of $42.37 and a 52-week high of $53.66. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $48.85 and a 200 day moving average of $47.80.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.27% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The firm had revenue of $424.32 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $422.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.47 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 13th were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 13th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.62%.

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.