Morgan Stanley Cuts Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Price Target to $54.00

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley from $58.00 to $54.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Bank OZK from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.38.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Shares of Bank OZK stock opened at $42.94 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Bank OZK has a twelve month low of $37.43 and a twelve month high of $53.64. The stock has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average is $48.10 and its 200 day moving average is $45.87.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.12. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.83% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The company had revenue of $412.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $407.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. Bank OZK’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank OZK

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 7.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,106,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,526,000 after purchasing an additional 485,172 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,102,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149,880 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Bank OZK by 32.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,223,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,566,000 after acquiring an additional 1,041,198 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank OZK by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,130,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,909,000 after acquiring an additional 188,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Bank OZK by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,945,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,162,000 after acquiring an additional 686,775 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

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.