Teacher Retirement System of Texas Boosts Holdings in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 63.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,530 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 14,944 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Bank OZK were worth $1,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in OZK. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 19,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 3,303 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in Bank OZK by 6.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 7,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Bank OZK by 5.5% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 290,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,501,000 after purchasing an additional 15,265 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Bank OZK by 112.8% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 51,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,223,000 after purchasing an additional 27,409 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Bank OZK by 395.2% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 311,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,407,000 after purchasing an additional 248,889 shares during the last quarter. 86.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Bank OZK from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank OZK in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Bank OZK from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on Bank OZK from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.38.

Bank OZK Price Performance

NASDAQ:OZK opened at $44.97 on Friday. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $48.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.03. Bank OZK has a 1-year low of $37.43 and a 1-year high of $53.64. The firm has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.32 and a beta of 1.23.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $412.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $407.19 million. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 13.90% and a net margin of 25.83%. Bank OZK’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Bank OZK will post 6.02 EPS for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th were given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.36%.

About Bank OZK

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.