HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 11,478 Shares of Bank OZK $OZK

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 146.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,332 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,478 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BOKF NA acquired a new stake in shares of Bank OZK in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bank OZK during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its holdings in Bank OZK by 100.5% during the 4th quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 766 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 96.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ OZK opened at $49.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a PE ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.24. Bank OZK has a fifty-two week low of $42.37 and a fifty-two week high of $53.66.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.46 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $424.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $422.62 million. Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.27% and a return on equity of 12.32%. Bank OZK’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 13th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 13th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on OZK. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.89.

Bank OZK Profile

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.