Renaissance Technologies LLC Raises Stock Position in Bank OZK $OZK

Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 918,897 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,300 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.82% of Bank OZK worth $42,168,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Bank OZK during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. BOKF NA purchased a new stake in shares of Bank OZK in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 100.5% in the 4th quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 766 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of Bank OZK during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank OZK by 111.2% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on OZK shares. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $61.00 price target on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bank OZK from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Bank OZK from $53.00 to $52.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Bank OZK from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.00.

Bank OZK Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:OZK opened at $50.38 on Tuesday. Bank OZK has a 12-month low of $42.37 and a 12-month high of $53.66. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.31. The company has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $430.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $436.42 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 11.87% and a net margin of 24.95%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank OZK announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, June 29th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 13th were issued a $0.48 dividend. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 13th. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.74%.

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.