Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) Sees Large Volume Increase - Here's Why

Key Points

• Great Southern Bancorp experienced a trading volume increase recently, with shares trading at $63.03, a marginal decline from the previous close of $63.28.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their ratings on GSBC, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $60.50.
• The company reported a net margin of 19.18% and earnings per share (EPS) of $1.72 for its last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations.

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC - Get Free Report) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 32,700 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 1% from the previous session's volume of 32,297 shares.The stock last traded at $63.03 and had previously closed at $63.28.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GSBC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Great Southern Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Great Southern Bancorp from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.50.

Great Southern Bancorp Price 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 stock has a market capitalization of $702.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $60.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.80.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $59.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.61 million. Great Southern Bancorp had a net margin of 19.18% and a return on equity of 11.17%. On average, analysts expect that Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great Southern Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Great Southern Bancorp's payout ratio is 27.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Great Southern Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GSBC. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 81.6% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 483 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 150.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 859 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp in the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 4,620 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 24.6% in the first quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 4,987 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.66% of the company's stock.

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.