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

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) was upgraded by equities researchers at Benchmark to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

SMBC has been the topic of several other research reports. 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 shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 target price (up from $79.00) on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Stephens downgraded Southern Missouri Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern Missouri Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.67.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:SMBC opened at $72.21 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $75.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.98. Southern Missouri Bancorp has a 1-year low of $47.60 and a 1-year high of $79.86. The company has a market capitalization of $795.25 million, a PE ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.31. Southern Missouri Bancorp had a return on equity of 12.59% and a net margin of 22.63%.The company had revenue of $51.76 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.14 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Southern Missouri Bancorp will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Southern Missouri Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Southern Missouri Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $85,270,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 440,839 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $28,187,000 after acquiring an additional 11,946 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in the second quarter worth approximately $18,079,000. Raffles Associates LP purchased a new stake in Southern Missouri Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $16,092,000. Finally, ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 94,707 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $6,056,000 after purchasing an additional 3,675 shares in the last quarter. 49.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Southern Missouri Bancorp

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.