Bank of the Ozarks shares tumble after Muddy Waters announces short bet
Shares of Bank of the Ozarks dropped as much as 8% Wednesday after short-seller Muddy Waters announced that it had made a bet against the bank. Muddy Waters chief investment officer, Carson Block, said the Little Rock, Ark.-based bank harbors a troubling amount of unfunded loan commitments. He made his comments at the well-attended Ira Sohn Investment Conference. Shares of the bank are off 5.1% in most recent trade at $37.57, recovering somewhat from its lowest levels following Block's remarks at the event in New York. "I think they are taking on a lot of risk in the name of growing quickly," Block told CNBC in an interview after his remarks at Sohn. The Sohn conference is a closely followed meeting of investment managers who share their thesis for one or more investment ideas. Muddy Waters, which drew attention for its bets against Chinese companies, is among a number of high-profile short-sellers.
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