Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday . Approximately 39,257 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 27% from the previous session’s volume of 53,625 shares.The stock last traded at $61.4350 and had previously closed at $61.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Great Southern Bancorp in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Great Southern Bancorp from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Great Southern Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Great Southern Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.50.

Great Southern Bancorp Trading Down 0.7%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $60.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.33. The firm has a market cap of $684.26 million, a P/E ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $58.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.72 million. Great Southern Bancorp had a net margin of 19.80% and a return on equity of 11.28%. Analysts predict that Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Great Southern Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 29th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 29th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Great Southern Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John M. Bugh sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.72, for a total transaction of $101,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,318.80. This represents a 49.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark A. Maples sold 1,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.93, for a total value of $86,898.50. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 27.93% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Great Southern Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 8.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 247,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,529,000 after acquiring an additional 18,718 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 58.2% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 35,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,062,000 after purchasing an additional 12,906 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in Great Southern Bancorp by 179.1% during the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 7,052 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 4,525 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 13,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $776,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 25.2% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 50,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,965,000 after buying an additional 10,163 shares during the period. 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.