LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) _ Bank OZK (OZK) on Thursday reported first-quarter earnings of $148.4 million.

The bank, based in Little Rock, Arkansas, said it had earnings of $1.14 per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to $1.11 per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 87 cents per share.

The bank posted revenue of $296.2 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $266.8 million, which also topped Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $258.4 million.

Bank OZK shares have increased 26% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $39.28, more than doubling in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on OZK at https://www.zacks.com/ap/OZK

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