Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) Price Target Raised to $74.00

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) had its target price raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $72.00 to $74.00 in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

GSBC has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Great Southern Bancorp from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research cut Great Southern Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Great Southern Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

Great Southern Bancorp Price Performance

Great Southern Bancorp stock opened at $78.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $852.14 million, a PE ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 0.49. Great Southern Bancorp has a 52-week low of $53.76 and a 52-week high of $82.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $74.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.50.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $56.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.26 million. Great Southern Bancorp had a net margin of 20.72% and a return on equity of 10.86%. On average, research analysts expect that Great Southern Bancorp will post 5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great Southern Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 29th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 29th. Great Southern Bancorp’s payout ratio is 28.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great Southern Bancorp

In other news, CEO Joseph W. Turner sold 6,000 shares of Great Southern Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were 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 directly owned 136,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,282,165.12. The trade was a 4.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Kevin L. Baker sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total transaction of $195,888.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 14 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $979.44. The trade was a 99.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,187 shares of company stock valued at $769,432. Insiders own 29.75% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Great Southern Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 1,301.8% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Sarver Vrooman Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in Great Southern Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth approximately $77,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Great Southern Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $128,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Great Southern Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. 41.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.