Hodges Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Bank OZK $OZK

Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 211.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 335,846 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 228,146 shares during the period. Bank OZK makes up approximately 1.3% of Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Hodges Capital Management Inc. owned 0.30% of Bank OZK worth $15,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in OZK. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,437,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $379,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924,387 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank OZK during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,809,000. Fairholme Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank OZK by 45.1% during the 2nd quarter. Fairholme Capital Management LLC now owns 916,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,142,000 after purchasing an additional 285,150 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Bank OZK during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,014,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Bank OZK by 39.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 788,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,214,000 after buying an additional 222,157 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.89.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Bank OZK stock opened at $51.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a PE ratio of 8.31 and a beta of 0.90. Bank OZK has a 52-week low of $42.37 and a 52-week high of $53.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company’s 50 day moving average is $48.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $47.42.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). Bank OZK had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 25.27%.The business had revenue of $424.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $422.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.47 earnings per share. Bank OZK’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 13th were issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 13th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.62%.

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.