Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Stock Price

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) had its target price cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on OZK. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.38.

Bank OZK Trading Down 8.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ OZK traded down $3.54 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $36.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 602,461 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,311,531. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.95. Bank OZK has a one year low of $35.71 and a one year high of $53.64.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $407.19 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 14th. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.66%. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.01%.

Institutional Trading of Bank OZK

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of OZK. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Bank OZK by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 11,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in Bank OZK by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 46,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,085,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Bank OZK by 1.9% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 13,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Bank OZK by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.