AXQ Capital LP Makes New Investment in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of OZK. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Bank OZK by 32.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,223,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,566,000 after buying an additional 1,041,198 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 124.6% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,698,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,034,000 after acquiring an additional 942,309 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 7.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Bank OZK during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,077,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Bank OZK by 395.2% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 311,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,407,000 after purchasing an additional 248,889 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of OZK stock opened at $45.28 on Tuesday. Bank OZK has a 1-year low of $37.43 and a 1-year high of $53.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $48.28 and a 200-day moving average of $46.00.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $412.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $407.19 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.83% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is presently 27.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group initiated coverage on Bank OZK in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Bank OZK from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.38.

Bank OZK Company Profile

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.