Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Increases Dividend to $0.48 Per Share

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 13th will be given a dividend of 0.48 per share on Monday, July 20th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 13th. This is a 2.1% increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47.

Bank OZK has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 29 years. Bank OZK has a payout ratio of 29.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Bank OZK to earn $6.64 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.3%.

Bank OZK Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ OZK opened at $52.85 on Thursday. Bank OZK has a 52-week low of $42.37 and a 52-week high of $53.66. The stock has a market cap of $5.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.61 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $49.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.90.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $422.62 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 25.27%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. Analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Bank OZK in a research note 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 issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.33.

About Bank OZK

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.