Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.40 Per Share

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, July 1st, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 12th will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share on Friday, July 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 12th. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39.

Bank OZK has increased its dividend by an average of 9.6% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 28 years. Bank OZK has a payout ratio of 24.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Bank OZK to earn $6.33 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.6%.

Bank OZK Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ OZK traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.08. 103,921 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,271,993. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Bank OZK has a 52 week low of $34.76 and a 52 week high of $52.36. The company has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.91 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $43.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.55.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.07. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 14.84% and a net margin of 28.54%. The company had revenue of $406.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $396.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 6.1 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Bank OZK from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Bank OZK in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Bank OZK from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Bank OZK from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $57.00 to $37.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

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.