Norges Bank Invests $53.11 Million in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,192,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,114,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in Bank OZK by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 171,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,644,000 after acquiring an additional 10,742 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 394.0% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 84,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,764,000 after purchasing an additional 67,420 shares during the period. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Bank OZK by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 106,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,759,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Bank OZK by 142.9% during the 4th quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 26,388 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after buying an additional 15,526 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in Bank OZK by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 362,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,129,000 after buying an additional 16,732 shares during the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Bank OZK Trading Down 2.0 %

OZK opened at $38.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $47.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.08. The company has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.21 and a beta of 1.05. Bank OZK has a 52 week low of $35.80 and a 52 week high of $53.64.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $407.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.01%.

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.