Legal & General Group Plc Sells 14,172 Shares of Bank OZK $OZK

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 154,290 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,172 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $7,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 34.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 7,437,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $379,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,924,387 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,808,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,160,000 after purchasing an additional 17,427 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,743,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,872,000 after purchasing an additional 112,048 shares during the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 1,869,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,031,000 after purchasing an additional 50,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairholme Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 45.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fairholme Capital Management LLC now owns 916,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,142,000 after purchasing an additional 285,150 shares during the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank OZK Stock Up 0.8%

Bank OZK stock opened at $49.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $42.37 and a 12-month high of $53.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $47.67 and its 200 day moving average is $47.24. The company has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a PE ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 0.90.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by ($0.02). Bank OZK had a net margin of 25.27% and a return on equity of 12.32%. The company had revenue of $424.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $422.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, April 13th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 13th. Bank OZK’s payout ratio is presently 30.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $57.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank OZK currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.89.

About Bank OZK

Bank OZK, formerly known as Bank of the Ozarks, is a regional commercial bank headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Established in 1903, the bank offers a full suite of banking products and services to both individual and corporate clients. Through a combination of organic growth and targeted acquisitions, Bank OZK has built a diversified lending portfolio and a strong deposit franchise.

The bank’s core operations focus on commercial real estate lending, including acquisition, development and construction financing.