CWA Asset Management Group LLC Acquires New Shares in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 16,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $719,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of OZK. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 291.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,371,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,765,974 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Bank OZK by 196.4% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,365,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,981,000 after buying an additional 904,782 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 483.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 980,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,195,000 after buying an additional 812,464 shares during the period. Berkley W R Corp purchased a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the 2nd quarter worth $24,600,000. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 115.0% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 715,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,350,000 after acquiring an additional 382,896 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on OZK. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Bank OZK from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.50.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

OZK opened at $46.46 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.64 and a beta of 1.16. Bank OZK has a 1-year low of $36.76 and a 1-year high of $52.36.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $423.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $419.08 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 26.07% and a return on equity of 14.15%. Equities analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 11th were paid a $0.41 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 11th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is 26.97%.

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.