Piper Sandler Initiates Coverage on Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC)

Key Points

• Piper Sandler has initiated coverage on Southern Missouri Bancorp with a neutral rating and a price target of $66.00, indicating a potential upside of 14.23% from its current price.
• Southern Missouri Bancorp reported earnings per share of $1.39 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates of $1.23, with revenue surpassing expectations as well.
• Insider trading activity includes Director William E. Young selling 10,000 shares at an average price of $56.30, representing a decrease of 9.52% in their holdings.

Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC - Free Report) in a research note published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $66.00 target price on the savings and loans company's stock.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern Missouri Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.67.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Stock Down 1.1%

Southern Missouri Bancorp stock traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $56.89. The company had a trading volume of 3,687 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,734. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $642.80 million, a P/E ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 1.03. Southern Missouri Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $45.10 and a fifty-two week high of $68.69. The firm's fifty day moving average is $55.66 and its 200-day moving average is $53.99.

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The savings and loans company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $47.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $46.60 million. Southern Missouri Bancorp had a net margin of 19.17% and a return on equity of 11.35%. On average, research analysts forecast that Southern Missouri Bancorp will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Southern Missouri Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Southern Missouri Bancorp's payout ratio is 19.31%.

Insider Activity at Southern Missouri Bancorp

In other news, Director William E. Young sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $563,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 94,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,347,768.10. This trade represents a 9.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 16.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Missouri Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Trust Co. NA bought a new position in Southern Missouri Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Southern Missouri Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $93,000. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Southern Missouri Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at about $94,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Southern Missouri Bancorp by 720.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,608 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern Missouri Bancorp by 147.5% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,542 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,111 shares during the last quarter. 49.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Company Profile

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.