Foster & Motley Inc. Makes New $1.05 Million Investment in Bank OZK $OZK

Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 20,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,055,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. BOKF NA acquired a new stake in shares of Bank OZK during the third quarter worth $27,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in Bank OZK by 100.5% in the 4th quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 766 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in Bank OZK during the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Bank OZK by 111.2% during the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the third quarter worth about $51,000. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of OZK opened at $49.48 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $51.03 and its 200-day moving average is $48.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 0.89. Bank OZK has a fifty-two week low of $42.37 and a fifty-two week high of $53.66.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $430.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $436.42 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 24.95% and a return on equity of 11.87%. The firm’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 5.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, June 29th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 13th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on OZK. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $61.00 target price on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research cut shares of Bank OZK from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.88.

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.