Bank of America Corp DE Makes New $2.01 Million Investment in Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. $GSBC

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 25,633 shares of Great Southern Bancorp in the second quarter, valued at approximately $2.01 million, while institutional investors collectively owned 41.66% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating on GSBC with a $74 price target, despite the stock opening at $77.21 and the company exceeding quarterly earnings and revenue estimates.
• Great Southern Bancorp declared a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, equivalent to a $1.72 annualized payout and a 2.2% yield; an insider also sold 851 shares for about $68,931.

Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 25,633 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,010,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.24% of Great Southern Bancorp at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Great Southern Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth $867,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Great Southern Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,412,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Great Southern Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $60,624,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $8,793,000. Finally, Globeflex Capital L P acquired a new position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $1,082,000. 41.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GSBC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut Great Southern Bancorp from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Zacks Research lowered Great Southern Bancorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Great Southern Bancorp from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Great Southern Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Great Southern Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of GSBC stock opened at $77.21 on Thursday. Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.76 and a 52-week high of $82.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $841.59 million, a PE ratio of 12.83 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.77.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $56.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.26 million. Great Southern Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.83% and a net margin of 20.72%. On average, equities analysts expect that Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Great Southern Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 28th. Great Southern Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Julie Brown sold 851 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $68,931.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,052 shares in the company, valued at $571,212. This trade represents a 10.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 29.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Great Southern Bancorp

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc is the bank holding company for Great Southern Bank, a full-service financial institution headquartered in Springfield, Missouri. Great Southern Bank traces its history to 1923 and operates as a community-oriented bank serving individuals, families, businesses and commercial customers.

The bank offers a range of deposit products, including checking, savings, money market and certificate of deposit accounts, along with residential mortgage, commercial real estate, construction, business and consumer lending.

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