Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC) saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 43,719 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 41% from the previous session’s volume of 74,073 shares.The stock last traded at $68.5050 and had previously closed at $68.87.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GSBC. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Great Southern Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Great Southern Bancorp from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Great Southern Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Great Southern Bancorp Stock Up 0.0%

The company has a market cap of $755.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $64.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.21.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $55.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.75 million. Great Southern Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 21.33%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great Southern Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 30th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 30th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Great Southern Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great Southern Bancorp

In other Great Southern Bancorp news, Director Thomas J. Carlson sold 680 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total transaction of $42,955.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,086,903.02. This represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Joseph W. Turner sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.16, for a total value of $408,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 136,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,282,165.12. The trade was a 4.22% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 9,180 shares of company stock valued at $620,891 over the last quarter. 29.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Great Southern Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 4,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 4.8% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 1.9% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 13,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $798,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 2.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 10,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $665,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. 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.