Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume - Here's Why

Key Points

• Earnings beat: Great Southern reported quarterly EPS of $1.58 versus estimates of $1.27 and revenue of $55.36M versus $54.75M, with a return on equity of 11.31% and net margin of 21.33%; analysts expect ~5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• Analyst sentiment and trading: The stock has a consensus Buy rating with a $65.00 target (Zacks upgraded to "strong-buy" and Weiss reiterated a "buy"), and it last traded around $68.51 on unusually notable intraday volume of ~43,719 shares (down 41% from the prior session).
• Dividend and insider activity: The company pays a $0.43 quarterly dividend (annualized $1.72, ~2.5% yield, 27.26% payout ratio), while insiders sold 9,180 shares (~$620,891) in the past 90 days and currently own about 29.75% of the stock.

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC - Get Free Report) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday . Approximately 43,719 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the previous session's volume of 74,073 shares.The stock last traded at $68.5050 and had previously closed at $68.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GSBC shares. Zacks Research upgraded Great Southern Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Great Southern Bancorp from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Great Southern Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Great Southern Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.00.

Great Southern Bancorp Trading Up 0.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.21. The firm has a market cap of $755.07 million, a PE ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 0.50.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $55.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.75 million. Great Southern Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 21.33%. Analysts expect that Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great Southern Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 30th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 30th. Great Southern Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 27.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great Southern Bancorp

In other news, Director Thomas J. Carlson sold 680 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.17, for a total value of $42,955.60. Following the sale, the director owned 17,206 shares in the company, valued at $1,086,903.02. This represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP John M. Bugh sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.59, for a total value of $168,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 1,790 shares in the company, valued at $120,986.10. The trade was a 58.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,180 shares of company stock worth $620,891. 29.75% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Great Southern Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 9.8% in 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 during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 27,487 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 1.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 51,169 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,134,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 177.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 48,227 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,954,000 after buying an additional 30,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 47,906 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,949,000 after buying an additional 8,149 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.66% of the company's stock.

Great Southern Bancorp Company Profile

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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