Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC) Short Interest Up 20.1% in April

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 99,100 shares, a growth of 20.1% from the March 31st total of 82,500 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 29,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William E. Young sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.23, for a total transaction of $159,690.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,649 shares in the company, valued at $2,270,206.27. The trade was a 6.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 16.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern Missouri Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 90.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 25,273 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $1,427,000 after buying an additional 11,996 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 249.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 25,080 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 17,895 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 9,254 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 2,547 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 8,420 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 889 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Southern Missouri Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth about $783,000. Institutional investors own 49.49% of the company's stock.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of SMBC stock traded up $0.81 on Thursday, reaching $53.27. 21,063 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 32,893. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $51.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.45. The stock has a market cap of $637.02 million, a PE ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 1.00. Southern Missouri Bancorp has a one year low of $39.90 and a one year high of $68.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The savings and loans company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.08. Southern Missouri Bancorp had a net margin of 17.72% and a return on equity of 10.45%. The company had revenue of $46.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.33 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern Missouri Bancorp will post 5.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Southern Missouri Bancorp's payout ratio is 18.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd.

About Southern Missouri Bancorp

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Southern Bank that provides banking and financial services to individuals and corporate customers in the United States. The company offers deposits products, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing transaction accounts, saving accounts, certificates of deposit, retirement savings plans, and money market deposit accounts.