Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $76.24 and last traded at $75.39, with a volume of 95235 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $74.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GSBC. Weiss Ratings raised Great Southern Bancorp from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research raised Great Southern Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Great Southern Bancorp from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Great Southern Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $65.00.

Great Southern Bancorp Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $69.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.96. The stock has a market cap of $826.12 million, a PE ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $55.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.75 million. Great Southern Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.29% and a net margin of 21.33%. Research analysts predict that Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great Southern Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 30th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Great Southern Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 27.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Joseph W. Turner sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.16, for a total transaction of $408,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 136,182 shares in the company, valued at $9,282,165.12. The trade was a 4.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP John M. Bugh sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.59, for a total value of $168,975.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 1,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,986.10. The trade was a 58.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 13,687 shares of company stock worth $938,407 in the last three months. 29.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Great Southern Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 4,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 4.8% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 1.9% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 13,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $798,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 24.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,309 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 2.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 10,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $665,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. 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.