We recently compiled a list of the 13 Best Performing Bank Stocks So Far In 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) stands against the other bank stocks.
The banking sector seems to be performing well in 2025 as the economy has been stronger than expected. Banking and financial services companies are taking more chances and investing in growth, especially in AI. At the same time, central banks around the world continue to lower interest rates, which is further helping the banks.
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In December 2024, Seana Smith, the anchor of Yahoo Finance’s morning show, pointed out that it might be a good time to buy bank stocks. Heading into 2025, that was the overwhelming consensus among well-known strategists. The reasons for optimism around bank stocks included a strong economy, expected deregulation under President-elect Donald Trump, attractive stock prices, and lower interest rates.
Brian Belski, Chief Investment Strategist and leader of the Investment Strategy Group at BMO Capital Markets, noted in his 2025 outlook that financial stocks are still “drastically unloved,” despite compelling valuations and strong earnings growth expectations. Aadil Zaman from Wall Street Alliance Group mentioned that the Federal Reserve’s expected drop in interest rates would result in greater investment banking activity.
Another reason for the sky-high enthusiasm was that historically, financial stocks have performed well under Republican administrations because of expectations for looser regulation, which creates a more favorable environment for banks.
Methodology
To compile our list of the 13 best-performing bank stocks so far in 2025, we used the Finviz stock screener to look for bank companies with the best year-to-date performance. We narrowed down our list by looking for the best-performing stocks with a market capitalization of more than $2 billion. The 13 best-performing bank stocks so far in 2025 were then ranked in ascending order based on their year-to-date performance as of February 14, 2025.
Additionally, we mentioned the hedge fund sentiment surrounding the best-performing stocks, which was taken from Insider Monkey’s Q3 2024 database of 900 elite hedge funds.
Why do we care about what hedge funds do? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
An iconic skyline of a major city, the towering buildings display the strength of the company’s regional banking success.
Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK)
Year-to-Date Performance: 18.79%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 27
Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK), previously known as Bank of the Ozarks, is a regional bank that provides a range of personal and business financial solutions and banking services. Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, the bank has over 240 offices in 9 US states. Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) offers online and mobile banking, checking, savings, business banking, loans, trust, and wealth solutions and services.
On January 21, 2025, Stephens analysts raised their price target on Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) to $57 from $53, while maintaining an ‘Equal Weight’ rating. This decision follows Bank OZK’s (NASDAQ:OZK) fourth-quarter earnings, which surpassed expectations. The company’s strong performance was driven by effective cost management and strong loan growth, especially in the Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) sector. Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) reported a pre-provision net revenue (PPNR) of $272 million to beat the consensus forecast of $262 million. The bank’s earnings per share (EPS) for Q4 2024 also outperformed analyst predictions, supported by a robust loan expansion that surpassed Stephens’ forecasts.
Stephens’ analysts noted that Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) had de-risked some of its larger Real Estate Specialties Group (RESG) loans. In 2024, the bank reevaluated 46% of its RESG balances, which led to an increase in the weighted average loan-to-value (LTV) to 44%. Additionally, the balance of substandard loans saw only a small rise of 5%. The stability in credit was viewed as a positive sign that can potentially boost investor confidence. The analysts believe that this stability is likely to increase confidence in the short term. As of February 14, 2025, Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) has surged more than 18% year-to-date.
Overall, OZK ranks 12th on our list of the best-performing bank stocks so far in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of OZK as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than OZK but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
