Hodges Capital Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Bank OZK $OZK

Hodges Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 25.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 251,576 shares of the company’s stock after selling 84,270 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $11,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 34.9% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,437,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924,387 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Bank OZK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,809,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Bank OZK by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,556,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,712,000 after purchasing an additional 546,785 shares in the last quarter. Fairholme Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 45.1% during the 2nd quarter. Fairholme Capital Management LLC now owns 916,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,142,000 after buying an additional 285,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Bank OZK during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,014,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Bank OZK from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Bank OZK in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.33.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Shares of OZK opened at $49.84 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.92. The firm has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a PE ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 0.89. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $42.37 and a 12-month high of $53.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

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

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.62%.

Bank OZK declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, June 29th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.