Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) Reaches New 52-Week High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ: GSBC) hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $79.76 after closing at $78.28 the previous day.
• The company’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $1.58 versus the $1.27 consensus and revenue of $55.36 million, while analysts currently have a Hold consensus and a $65 price target.
• Great Southern Bancorp also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, payable July 14, representing a 2.2% annualized yield.

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $79.76 and last traded at $78.30, with a volume of 18595 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GSBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Great Southern Bancorp from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Weiss Ratings cut Great Southern Bancorp from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Great Southern Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Great Southern Bancorp from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Great Southern Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $65.00.

Great Southern Bancorp Stock Performance

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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $71.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $853.61 million, a PE ratio of 12.42 and a beta of 0.50.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $55.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts expect that Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Great Southern Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 29th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 29th. Great Southern Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great Southern Bancorp

In other news, VP Kevin L. Baker sold 2,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total transaction of $195,888.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 14 shares of the company's stock, valued at $979.44. The trade was a 99.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Joseph W. Turner sold 6,000 shares of Great Southern Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.16, for a total value of $408,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 136,182 shares in the company, valued at $9,282,165.12. This trade represents a 4.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 13,687 shares of company stock valued at $938,407 over the last three months. Insiders own 29.75% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LSV Asset Management increased its position in Great Southern Bancorp by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 130,884 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,057,000 after purchasing an additional 27,487 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in Great Southern Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,072,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 9.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 271,310 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,618,000 after buying an additional 24,131 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 101.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,452 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,008,000 after buying an additional 8,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 15,923 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $980,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the period. 41.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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