Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC) hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $73.49 and last traded at $73.29, with a volume of 39818 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.46.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GSBC shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Great Southern Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Zacks Research upgraded Great Southern Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Great Southern Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Great Southern Bancorp from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.00.

Great Southern Bancorp Price Performance

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 company has a market cap of $806.52 million, a P/E ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $67.90 and its 200 day moving average is $64.28.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $55.36 million for 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.84 EPS for the current year.

Great Southern Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 30th. Great Southern Bancorp’s payout ratio is 27.26%.

Insider Activity at Great Southern Bancorp

In related news, VP John M. Bugh sold 2,500 shares of Great Southern Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,986.10. The trade was a 58.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark A. Maples sold 2,387 shares of Great Southern Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.95, for a total transaction of $164,583.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,187 shares in the company, valued at $81,843.65. This trade represents a 66.79% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 13,687 shares of company stock worth $938,407. Company insiders own 29.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Great Southern Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,750,000 after acquiring an additional 3,369 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 47,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,009,000 after acquiring an additional 2,764 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 50.3% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 27,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,735,000 after acquiring an additional 9,193 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 16,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after acquiring 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.