Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) Sees Large Volume Increase – Should You Buy?

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 52,997 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the previous session’s volume of 74,005 shares.The stock last traded at $70.9960 and had previously closed at $69.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SMBC has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $71.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.67.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $774.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.48.

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.05. Southern Missouri Bancorp had a net margin of 21.36% and a return on equity of 12.05%. The business had revenue of $50.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.98 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. will post 6.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Southern Missouri Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.69%.

Insider Transactions at Southern Missouri Bancorp

In other Southern Missouri Bancorp news, EVP Richard Windes sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.47, for a total transaction of $136,940.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $368,026.25. This represents a 27.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 15.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern Missouri Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 2.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 440,839 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $28,187,000 after acquiring an additional 11,946 shares during the period. FJ Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 6.4% in the third quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 300,944 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $15,818,000 after acquiring an additional 18,002 shares during the period. Clayton Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $16,579,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 275,909 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $16,312,000 after acquiring an additional 62,355 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 10.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 275,411 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $14,476,000 after acquiring an additional 25,751 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.49% of the company’s stock.

About Southern Missouri Bancorp

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc (NASDAQ: SMBC) is a bank holding company headquartered in West Plains, Missouri, serving as the parent of Southern Bank. The company focuses on delivering community banking services to individual and commercial customers across southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. It operates branch offices in local markets and provides a comprehensive suite of deposit and lending products tailored to both urban and rural communities.

Through its subsidiary, Southern Bank, the company offers deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside digital and mobile banking platforms.