Amundi Lowers Stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Amundi cut its stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 31.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 156,884 shares of the company’s stock after selling 73,429 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned about 0.14% of Bank OZK worth $6,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Bank OZK during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank OZK during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 176.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Bank OZK by 81.3% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 948 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Bank OZK from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.38.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of OZK opened at $44.19 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $48.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.90. The company has a market capitalization of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.20 and a beta of 1.23. Bank OZK has a fifty-two week low of $37.43 and a fifty-two week high of $53.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.12. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 25.83%. The company had revenue of $412.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $407.19 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. Bank OZK’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 14th. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is 27.36%.

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.