Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $73.49 and last traded at $73.29, with a volume of 39818 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.46.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Great Southern Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Great Southern Bancorp from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Great Southern Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Great Southern Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Great Southern Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Great Southern Bancorp Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $68.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $798.35 million, a PE ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.50.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $55.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.75 million. 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 30th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 30th. Great Southern Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Kevin L. Baker sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total transaction of $195,888.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 14 shares in the company, valued at $979.44. This represents a 99.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Joseph W. Turner sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,687 shares of company stock worth $938,407. 29.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Great Southern Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GSBC. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Great Southern Bancorp by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 27,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,750,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Great Southern Bancorp by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Great Southern Bancorp by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 47,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,009,000 after acquiring an additional 2,764 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Great Southern Bancorp by 50.3% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 27,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,735,000 after acquiring an additional 9,193 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Great Southern Bancorp by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 16,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.66% of the company’s stock.

About Great Southern Bancorp

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.