American Century Companies Inc. Increases Stock Position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,176,997 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 238,810 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $96,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of OZK. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Bank OZK in the fourth quarter worth $287,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Bank OZK by 63.4% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 38,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,716,000 after purchasing an additional 14,944 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in Bank OZK by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 12,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 849 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Bank OZK by 179.6% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 23,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 15,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Bank OZK by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 24,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 972 shares in the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OZK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Bank OZK in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Bank OZK from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $40.00 to $48.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.38.

Bank OZK Stock Performance

OZK stock opened at $45.28 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Bank OZK has a 1 year low of $37.43 and a 1 year high of $53.64. The company has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $48.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.00.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $407.19 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 14th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.36%.

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.