Vest Financial LLC Increases Holdings in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 46.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,364 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,006 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $1,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Bank OZK by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,028,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,394,000 after acquiring an additional 502,005 shares in the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. raised its position in Bank OZK by 2.0% during the second quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 2,024,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,989,000 after acquiring an additional 40,356 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Bank OZK by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,897,696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,562,000 after acquiring an additional 300,025 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Bank OZK by 21.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,642,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,334,000 after acquiring an additional 295,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Bank OZK by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,279,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,776,000 after acquiring an additional 51,379 shares in the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OZK opened at $39.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $42.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a PE ratio of 6.69 and a beta of 1.17. Bank OZK has a 1 year low of $34.76 and a 1 year high of $52.36.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52. The firm had revenue of $416.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $414.39 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 14.50% and a net margin of 27.04%. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 12th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 12th. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is currently 26.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on OZK. StockNews.com upgraded Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup cut Bank OZK from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $57.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Bank OZK from $41.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.71.

Bank OZK 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.