Stevens Capital Management LP Takes Position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $248,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Bank OZK by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,994,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,018,000 after acquiring an additional 35,215 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Bank OZK by 18.1% during the third quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 2,031,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,308,000 after acquiring an additional 311,293 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Bank OZK by 0.4% during the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,858,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,893,000 after acquiring an additional 7,039 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC raised its stake in Bank OZK by 0.8% during the third quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 1,210,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,858,000 after purchasing an additional 9,857 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Bank OZK by 423.9% during the third quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,085,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,235,000 after purchasing an additional 878,212 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Shares of OZK stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $46.02. The stock had a trading volume of 850,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,201,989. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Bank OZK has a fifty-two week low of $30.72 and a fifty-two week high of $52.36. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.49. The firm has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 7.71 and a beta of 1.27.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.07. Bank OZK had a net margin of 28.54% and a return on equity of 14.84%. The firm had revenue of $406.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $396.81 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 12th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 11th. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is 26.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $48.00 price target on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank OZK has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.14.

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.