Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $76.97 and last traded at $76.48, with a volume of 7770 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $75.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Great Southern Bancorp from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Great Southern Bancorp from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Zacks Research cut Great Southern Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Great Southern Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Great Southern Bancorp Stock Up 1.1%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.69. The company has a market cap of $834.98 million, a P/E ratio of 12.14 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.31. Great Southern Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.29% and a net margin of 21.33%.The business had revenue of $55.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.75 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Great Southern Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 29th will be paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 29th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Great Southern Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Great Southern Bancorp news, CEO Joseph W. Turner sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.16, for a total transaction of $408,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 136,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,282,165.12. This trade represents a 4.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark A. Maples sold 2,387 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.95, for a total value of $164,583.65. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 1,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,843.65. The trade was a 66.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 13,687 shares of company stock worth $938,407. Corporate insiders own 29.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Great Southern Bancorp by 1,301.8% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $77,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 24.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $128,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.66% of the company’s stock.

Great Southern Bancorp Company Profile

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc (NASDAQ: GSBC) is the bank holding company for Great Southern Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Springfield, Missouri. Through its subsidiary, the company provides a broad spectrum of financial products and services designed to meet the needs of individuals, small and mid-sized businesses, and professional clients across its regional footprint.

Great Southern Bank’s core business activities include deposit-taking, lending and treasury management.