Mark Maples Sells 1,450 Shares of Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) Stock

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC) VP Mark Maples sold 1,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.93, for a total transaction of $86,898.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Great Southern Bancorp Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ GSBC opened at $60.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $679.79 million, a PE ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.57 and a 12-month high of $66.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $58.91 and a 200 day moving average of $59.34.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $58.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $56.72 million. Great Southern Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.28% and a net margin of 19.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great Southern Bancorp Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 29th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 29th. This is an increase from Great Southern Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Great Southern Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 9.7% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 228,461 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,650,000 after acquiring an additional 20,248 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Great Southern Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $457,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Great Southern Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,171,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in Great Southern Bancorp by 69.2% in the first quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 106,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,880,000 after purchasing an additional 43,430 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its stake in Great Southern Bancorp by 58.2% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 35,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,062,000 after purchasing an additional 12,906 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on GSBC shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Great Southern Bancorp in a report on Monday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Great Southern Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Great Southern Bancorp from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Great Southern Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.50.

About Great Southern Bancorp

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc operates as a bank holding company for Great Southern Bank that provides a range of financial services in the United States. Its deposit products include regular savings accounts, checking accounts, money market accounts, fixed interest rate certificates with varying maturities, certificates of deposit, brokered certificates, and individual retirement accounts.