Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 62.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,181 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,209 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $1,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OZK. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in Bank OZK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bank OZK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Bank OZK by 73.8% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 968 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Bank OZK by 81.3% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 948 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Bank OZK during the third quarter worth approximately $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on OZK. UBS Group began coverage on Bank OZK in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Bank OZK from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Bank OZK Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:OZK opened at $48.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.82 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.67. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $37.43 and a 12-month high of $53.64.

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

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 14th. This is a positive change from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.36%.

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.