Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Investopedia: Bank Of The Ozarks Hitting The Accelerator In A Low-Growth Environment

I am big fan of Bank of the Ozarks (Nasdaq:OZRK), so it bothers me that I can't find much value in these shares. Moreover, while I believe this company's aggressive growth strategy could underpin its evolution into a significant regional bank, I do worry that the bank is doing too much too soon. While it certainly makes sense to grow aggressively while many larger competitors have a hand tied behind their back, aggressive growth stories in banking have a disturbing habit of going sour at some point.

Challenges Seem to Be Intensifying
While there are certainly regional differences in business conditions in the U.S., the fact remains that Bank of the Ozarks operates in the same low-rate/narrow spread environment as First Horizon (NYSE:FHN), Cullen/Frost (NYSE:CFR), and Regions Financial (NYSE:RF). To wit, it's a lot harder to make a buck in regular old banking.

Continue reading here:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2012/Bank-Of-The-Ozarks-Hitting-Accelerator-In-A-Low-Growth-Environment-OZRK-RF-FHN-CFR0717.aspx

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