Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $853,000 in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 19,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $853,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in 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. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Bank OZK by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 342,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,248,000 after purchasing an additional 5,538 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Bank OZK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $307,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank OZK during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 1,788 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Price Performance

NASDAQ:OZK opened at $46.49 on Friday. Bank OZK has a one year low of $35.71 and a one year high of $53.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a PE ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.84.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.05. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 25.83%. The firm had revenue of $409.23 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $403.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 14th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 14th. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on OZK shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Stephens reduced their target price on Bank OZK from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Bank OZK from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. 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. According to MarketBeat, Bank OZK has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.13.

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.