Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,976 shares of the company’s stock after selling 229 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 30.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 254,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,958,000 after purchasing an additional 59,907 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 126,352 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 68.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 112.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank OZK during the third quarter worth about $529,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

Bank OZK stock opened at $44.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.93. Bank OZK has a 1-year low of $37.43 and a 1-year high of $53.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.20 and a beta of 1.23.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted 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 net margin of 25.83% and a return on equity of 13.90%. The business had revenue of $412.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $407.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business 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 a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 14th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on OZK shares. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Bank OZK from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.38.

Bank OZK 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.