Zacks Research Upgrades Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) to “Hold”

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Great Southern Bancorp in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Great Southern Bancorp from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.50.

Great Southern Bancorp Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of GSBC stock opened at $65.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $734.85 million, a P/E ratio of 10.91 and a beta of 0.53. Great Southern Bancorp has a 1 year low of $47.57 and a 1 year high of $66.46. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $58.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.72 million. Great Southern Bancorp had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 11.28%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Great Southern Bancorp will post 5.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great Southern Bancorp

In other Great Southern Bancorp news, VP Mark A. Maples sold 1,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.93, for a total transaction of $86,898.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP John M. Bugh sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.72, for a total transaction of $101,010.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 1,790 shares in the company, valued at $103,318.80. The trade was a 49.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 27.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Great Southern Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 271,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,618,000 after acquiring an additional 24,131 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 69.2% during the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 106,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,880,000 after purchasing an additional 43,430 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Great Southern Bancorp by 1.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 51,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,134,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 177.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 48,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,954,000 after purchasing an additional 30,863 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning raised its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 20.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 42,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,590,000 after purchasing an additional 7,208 shares during the period. 41.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Great Southern Bancorp

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for Great Southern Bank that provides a range of financial services in the United States. Its deposit products include regular savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, fixed interest rate certificates with varying maturities, certificates of deposit, brokered certificates, and individual retirement accounts.