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Bank OZK Ups Dividend by 3.8%: Is the Stock Worth Betting on?

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At a time when banks are under pressure from several quarters for suspending/slashing dividend payments amid coronavirus concerns, Bank OZK (OZK - Free Report) has carried out quarterly dividend hike like it does every quarter. This marks the 39th consecutive quarter of dividend hike.

Bank OZK announced a quarter cash dividend of 27 cents per share, representing a 3.8% hike from the prior payout. The dividend will be paid on Apr 20 to its shareholders of record on Apr 13.

Prior to this, it hiked dividend by 4.4% to 26 cents per share.

Considering last day’s closing price of $16.16, Bank OZK’s dividend yield currently stands at 6.68%. Not only is this yield attractive for income investors but also it represents a steady income stream.

Given a robust capital position and lower debt equity and dividend payout ratios than its peers, Bank OZK is expected to sustain capital deployment activities. While Bank OZK’s organic and inorganic growth efforts are expected to keep supporting profitability, margin pressure mainly due to the Federal Reserve’s accommodative monetary policy and near-zero interest rates is likely to persist in the near term.

Further, coronavirus-related slowdown is expected to hurt this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) bank’s profitability for a couple of quarters. Also, persistently rising operating expenses remain a concern.  

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Thus, investors must take into consideration these adverse factors before taking any investment decision.

Shares of Bank OZK have lost 47% so far this year compared with the industry’s 39.1% decline.



Several banks including Bank of America (BAC - Free Report) , Citigroup (C - Free Report) , BNY Mellon, Regions Financial (RF - Free Report) , PNC Financial and BankUnited have suspended share repurchases since mid-March. Now, banking regulators want the banks to suspend/cut dividend payments, with an aim of using the additional freed-up capital for lending activities. However, banks are reluctant to do so as they have sufficient liquidity to combat coronavirus-related slowdown.

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