Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $76.97 and last traded at $76.48, with a volume of 7770 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $75.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GSBC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded Great Southern Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Great Southern Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Great Southern Bancorp from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Great Southern Bancorp from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Great Southern Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.00.

Great Southern Bancorp Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $834.98 million, a P/E ratio of 12.14 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 21.33% and a return on equity of 11.29%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great Southern Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 29th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 29th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Great Southern Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 27.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Kevin L. Baker sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total transaction of $195,888.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 14 shares in the company, valued at approximately $979.44. This represents a 99.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP John M. Bugh sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.59, for a total value of $168,975.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 1,790 shares in the company, valued at $120,986.10. The trade was a 58.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 13,687 shares of company stock worth $938,407 in the last three months. Company insiders own 29.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Great Southern Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSBC. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 1,301.8% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $77,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 24.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Great Southern Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $128,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Great Southern Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Institutional investors 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.