Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.56 by ($0.03), Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $436.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $434.68 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.81% and a return on equity of 13.00%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ OZK opened at $47.80 on Wednesday. Bank OZK has a one year low of $35.71 and a one year high of $53.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.71 and a beta of 0.90.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 13th were given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 13th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.68%.

Institutional Trading of Bank OZK

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of OZK. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in Bank OZK by 34.9% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,437,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,171,000 after buying an additional 1,924,387 shares during the last quarter. Fairholme Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 45.1% in the second quarter. Fairholme Capital Management LLC now owns 916,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,142,000 after acquiring an additional 285,150 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 36.7% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 793,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,356,000 after acquiring an additional 213,101 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Bank OZK by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 684,876 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,915,000 after acquiring an additional 129,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Bank OZK by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 590,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,110,000 after purchasing an additional 128,984 shares in the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OZK has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Bank OZK from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $63.00 to $59.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank OZK presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.00.

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.