Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) to Equal Weight

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $48.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $40.00.

OZK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group began coverage on Bank OZK in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Bank OZK from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank OZK currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.00.

Bank OZK Price Performance

OZK opened at $50.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 8.29 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $46.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.43. Bank OZK has a 52-week low of $37.43 and a 52-week high of $51.50.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.12. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 25.83%. The firm had revenue of $412.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $407.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 5.95 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 14th. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is presently 27.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank OZK

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OZK. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in Bank OZK by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 13,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 15,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 8.3% in the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 5,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 7,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Bank OZK

Bank OZK provides various retail and commercial banking services for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company offers deposit services, including non-interest bearing checking, interest bearing transaction, business sweep, savings, money market, individual retirement, and other accounts, as well as time and reciprocal deposits.