By Rob Otman
Bank of the Ozarks (Nasdaq: OZRK) is a mid cap company that operates within the banking industry. Its market cap is $6 billion today, and the total one-year return is 36.18% for shareholders.
Bank of the Ozarks stock is beating the market, and it reports earnings next week. But does that make it a good buy today? To answer this question, we’ve turned to the Investment U Stock Grader. Our Research Team built this system to diagnose the financial health of a company.
Our system looks at six key metrics…
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✓ Earnings-per-Share (EPS) Growth: Bank of the Ozarks reported a recent EPS growth rate of 28.07%. That’s above the banking industry average of 18.63%. That’s a great sign. Bank of the Ozarks’ earnings growth is outpacing that of its competitors.
✗ Price-to-Earnings (P/E): The average price-to-earnings ratio of the banking industry is 14.77. And Bank of the Ozarks’ ratio comes in at 17.5. Its valuation looks expensive compared to many of its competitors.
✓ Debt-to-Equity: The debt-to-equity ratio for Bank of the Ozarks stock is 8.39%. That’s below the banking industry average of 194.41%. The company is less leveraged.
✗ Free Cash Flow per Share Growth: Bank of the Ozarks’ FCF has been lower than that of its competitors over the last year. That’s not good for investors. In general, if a company is growing its FCF, it will be able to pay down debt, buy back stock, pay out more in dividends and/or invest money back into the business to help boost growth. It’s one of our most important fundamental factors.
✓ Profit Margins: The profit margin of Bank of the Ozarks comes in at 40.57% today. And generally, the higher, the better. We also like to see this margin above that of its competitors. Bank of the Ozarks’ profit margin is above the banking average of 34.28%. So that’s a positive indicator for investors.
✓ Return on Equity: Return on equity tells us how much profit a company produces with the money shareholders invest. The ROE for Bank of the Ozarks is 14.04%, and that’s above its industry average ROE of 12.68%.
Bank of the Ozarks stock passes four of our six key metrics today. That’s why our Investment U Stock Grader rates it as a Buy With Caution.
Please note that our fundamental factor checklist is just the first step in performing your own due diligence. There are many other factors you should consider before investing. That’s why The Oxford Club offers more than a dozen newsletters and trading advisories all aimed at helping investors grow and maintain their wealth.
If you’re interested in finding Strong Buy stocks yourself, check out Fundamental Analysis Pro. It’s a free five-part mini-course that will teach you how to grade stocks like a Wall Street veteran. Click here to learn more. …read more
Source:: Investment You
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