Watchman Group Inc. Decreases Position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Watchman Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,070 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,138 shares during the period. Watchman Group Inc. owned about 0.05% of Bank OZK worth $2,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of OZK. State Street Corp lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 485,172 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Bank OZK by 32.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,223,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,566,000 after buying an additional 1,041,198 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Bank OZK by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,130,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,909,000 after purchasing an additional 188,575 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Bank OZK by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,176,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,942,000 after acquiring an additional 238,810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Bank OZK by 6.7% during the 3rd 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Price Performance

OZK opened at $43.73 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.12 and a beta of 1.23. Bank OZK has a one year low of $37.43 and a one 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.09.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $412.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $407.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 14th. This is an increase from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is 27.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens increased 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. UBS Group started coverage on Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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.