Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) Stock Bumped Down to Sell by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Great Southern Bancorp from “hold” to “sell,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “hold” with a $74 price target.
• GSBC shares opened at $80.93, near their 52-week high of $82.91, and were reported up 2.5%. The company exceeded quarterly expectations, posting $1.50 earnings per share versus the $1.39 consensus and revenue of $57.74 million.
• Insiders own 29.75% of the company, while institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.66%; director Julie Brown recently sold 851 shares at an average price of $81.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on GSBC. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Great Southern Bancorp from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Great Southern Bancorp from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Great Southern Bancorp Stock Up 2.5%

Shares of Great Southern Bancorp stock opened at $80.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $882.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.12 and a beta of 0.50. The firm's 50-day moving average is $78.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.58. Great Southern Bancorp has a 1 year low of $53.76 and a 1 year high of $82.91.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.11. Great Southern Bancorp had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The business had revenue of $57.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.08 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Great Southern Bancorp will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Great Southern Bancorp

In related news, Director Julie Brown sold 851 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $68,931.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,052 shares in the company, valued at $571,212. The trade was a 10.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 29.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Great Southern Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GSBC. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 2,132.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 3,454 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Great Southern Bancorp by 217.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 480 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Great Southern Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $349,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in Great Southern Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $229,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Great Southern Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $564,000. 41.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Great Southern Bancorp Company Profile

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc is the bank holding company for Great Southern Bank, a full-service financial institution headquartered in Springfield, Missouri. The company provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses and institutions through a network of banking centers and other delivery channels.

Great Southern Bank offers deposit products, residential and commercial real estate lending, construction and development financing, commercial business loans, consumer loans and mortgage services.

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