Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 182,096 shares, a growth of 42.6% from the February 26th total of 127,736 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 60,674 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern Missouri Bancorp news, Director Charles R. Love sold 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.00, for a total transaction of $37,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,220 shares in the company, valued at $974,080. This represents a 3.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 15.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Missouri Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SMBC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,681 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern Missouri Bancorp by 105.7% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 718 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Southern Missouri Bancorp by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 18,953 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 15,136 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $829,000 after buying an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,537 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $327,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. 49.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of SMBC stock traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $63.15. 42,054 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,432. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.49. The stock has a market cap of $701.60 million, a PE ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 0.96. Southern Missouri Bancorp has a 12 month low of $45.10 and a 12 month high of $66.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The savings and loans company reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $49.65 million during the quarter. Southern Missouri Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.92% and a net margin of 20.80%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Missouri Bancorp will post 5.06 EPS for the current year.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Southern Missouri Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $73.00 target price (up from $71.00) on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price objective (up from $61.00) on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Southern Missouri Bancorp from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern Missouri Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.33.

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.