QV Investors Inc. Sells 7,460 Shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

QV Investors Inc. cut its holdings in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 163,590 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,460 shares during the quarter. QV Investors Inc.’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $7,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Bank OZK by 30.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 254,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,958,000 after buying an additional 59,907 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 6.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,022,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,989,000 after purchasing an additional 126,352 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 68.6% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 34,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,499,000 after purchasing an additional 14,189 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 112.8% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 51,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,223,000 after purchasing an additional 27,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 124.6% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,698,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,034,000 after purchasing an additional 942,309 shares during the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OZK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens raised their price objective on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Bank OZK from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group started coverage on Bank OZK in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Bank OZK from $58.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Raymond James cut Bank OZK from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.25.

Bank OZK Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:OZK traded up $0.30 during trading on Monday, reaching $42.01. The stock had a trading volume of 705,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,215,144. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $46.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.08. The stock has a market cap of $4.77 billion, a PE ratio of 6.91 and a beta of 1.20. Bank OZK has a 1-year low of $37.43 and a 1-year high of $51.50.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $423.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $419.08 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 26.07%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is 27.63%.

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.