Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $82.40 and last traded at $79.18, with a volume of 91478 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.83.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GSBC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Great Southern Bancorp from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Great Southern Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Great Southern Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. One equities research analyst has 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 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Great Southern Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $844.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.31. Great Southern Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.29% and a net margin of 21.33%.The business had revenue of $55.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.75 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Great Southern Bancorp Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Joseph W. Turner sold 6,000 shares of Great Southern Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.16, for a total transaction of $408,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 136,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,282,165.12. The trade was a 4.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark A. Maples sold 2,387 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.95, for a total value of $164,583.65. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 1,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,843.65. This represents a 66.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 13,687 shares of company stock worth $938,407. 29.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Great Southern Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Great Southern Bancorp by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 27,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,750,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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 in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 6.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 47,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,009,000 after purchasing an additional 2,764 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 50.3% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 27,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,735,000 after purchasing an additional 9,193 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 1.9% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 16,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.66% of the company’s stock.

About Great Southern Bancorp

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.