Level Four Advisory Services LLC Increases Stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,884 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 896 shares during the quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 7.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,106,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,526,000 after purchasing an additional 485,172 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Bank OZK by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,223,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041,198 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,130,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,909,000 after buying an additional 188,575 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Bank OZK by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,176,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,942,000 after buying an additional 238,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Bank OZK by 6.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,022,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,989,000 after buying an additional 126,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OZK opened at $43.73 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Bank OZK has a 12 month low of $37.43 and a 12 month high of $53.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.12 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $48.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.14.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $412.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $407.19 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 25.83%. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th were issued a $0.42 dividend. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 14th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on OZK. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Bank OZK from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Bank OZK in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.38.

Bank OZK Company Profile

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.