M&T Bank Corp Reduces Stake in Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)

M&T Bank Corp decreased its stake in shares of Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,330 shares of the company’s stock after selling 865 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Bank OZK were worth $2,259,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in OZK. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 423.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,085,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,235,000 after acquiring an additional 878,212 shares in the last quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Van Berkom & Associates Inc. now owns 2,031,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,308,000 after acquiring an additional 311,293 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Bank OZK in the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,788,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 86.2% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 605,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,450,000 after acquiring an additional 280,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Bank OZK by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 716,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,553,000 after acquiring an additional 178,620 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.18% of the company’s stock.

Bank OZK Price Performance

OZK opened at $47.30 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Bank OZK has a 1 year low of $30.72 and a 1 year high of $52.36. The firm has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.92 and a beta of 1.24.

Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.07. Bank OZK had a return on equity of 14.84% and a net margin of 28.54%. The business had revenue of $406.02 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $396.81 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Bank OZK will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank OZK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 12th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 11th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. This is a boost from Bank OZK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Bank OZK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on OZK. StockNews.com lowered Bank OZK from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Bank OZK from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Bank OZK from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Bank OZK from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Bank OZK in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.14.

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.