Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at Benchmark

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) was upgraded by investment analysts at Benchmark to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Southern Missouri Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Stephens cut shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.67.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:SMBC opened at $72.21 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $795.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s 50 day moving average is $75.16 and its 200-day moving average is $70.98. Southern Missouri Bancorp has a 12 month low of $47.60 and a 12 month high of $79.86.

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.31. Southern Missouri Bancorp had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 12.59%. The firm had revenue of $51.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.14 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Southern Missouri Bancorp will post 6.78 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SMBC. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Southern Missouri Bancorp by 124.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 564 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 46,088 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,947,000 after buying an additional 1,492 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 18,778 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after buying an additional 2,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 41,560 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,657,000 after buying an additional 3,503 shares in the last quarter. 49.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Company Profile

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc is the bank holding company for Southern Bank, a community banking institution headquartered in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Through Southern Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, farmers, and businesses.

Southern Bank offers deposit products, residential and commercial real estate lending, consumer loans, agricultural financing, business loans, mortgage services, and treasury management solutions. Customers also have access to digital banking, online bill pay, mobile banking, and other standard personal and business banking services.

Southern Bank traces its history to 1887 and serves communities primarily in Missouri and neighboring areas, including parts of Arkansas.