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Investing.com -- Moody’s Ratings has affirmed all ratings for Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK) while changing the outlook from negative to stable, according to an announcement made Monday.
The rating agency maintained Bank OZK’s long-term local currency deposit rating at A3 and short-term rating at Prime-2. The bank’s local currency issuer rating remains at Baa3, while its Baseline Credit Assessment stays at baa2.
Moody’s decision reflects a balance between risks associated with Bank OZK’s substantial commercial real estate (CRE) loan concentration and several strong risk mitigants. These include the bank’s robust profitability, modest reliance on volatile funding sources, and focus on capital retention to support growth.
The stable outlook indicates Moody’s expectation that Bank OZK’s CRE portfolio will continue performing well over the next 12 to 18 months despite an anticipated economic slowdown. While the bank has experienced some modest portfolio deterioration over the past year as borrowers adjust to higher interest rates, its problem loan and net charge-off ratios remain low compared to peers.
At March 31, 2025, Bank OZK’s exposure to CRE loans stood at 421% of tangible common equity, among the highest of all rated U.S. banks. However, Moody’s noted this concentration has declined modestly over the past year, with management working to diversify lending activities.
The rating agency highlighted potential risks in the bank’s expansion of its Corporate and Institutional Banking business, which management is relying on to offset an anticipated CRE business slowdown.
Bank OZK’s tangible common equity to risk-weighted assets ratio has improved to 11.36% as of March 31, 2025, up from a low of 10.6% a year earlier. Moody’s expects this ratio to remain above 11.0% going forward.
The bank maintains strong core deposit funding, with approximately 81% insured or collateralized deposits and low reliance on wholesale borrowing. However, Moody’s noted the bank holds a relatively low level of unencumbered liquid assets.
According to Moody’s, an upgrade could occur if Bank OZK successfully reduces its CRE and construction lending while maintaining strong asset quality and conservative underwriting standards without significantly reducing capital ratios or profitability.
Conversely, ratings could be downgraded if the bank’s tangible common equity to risk-weighted assets ratio falls below 10%, if there’s evidence of weakening underwriting standards, or if the bank significantly increases its reliance on more confidence-sensitive funding.
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