Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) Sees Large Volume Increase – Should You Buy?

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 52,997 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 28% from the previous session’s volume of 74,005 shares.The stock last traded at $70.9960 and had previously closed at $69.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SMBC. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $71.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in a report on Thursday. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.67.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Trading Up 0.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $774.16 million, a PE ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $63.48.

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.05. Southern Missouri Bancorp had a net margin of 21.36% and a return on equity of 12.05%. The business had revenue of $50.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.98 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Southern Missouri Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 16.69%.

Insider Transactions at Southern Missouri Bancorp

In other Southern Missouri Bancorp news, EVP Richard Windes sold 2,000 shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.47, for a total transaction of $136,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,375 shares in the company, valued at approximately $368,026.25. The trade was a 27.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 15.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Missouri Bancorp

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 2.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 440,839 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $28,187,000 after buying an additional 11,946 shares in the last quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 6.4% in the third quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 300,944 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $15,818,000 after buying an additional 18,002 shares during the last quarter. Clayton Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $16,579,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 275,909 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $16,312,000 after buying an additional 62,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 10.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 275,411 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $14,476,000 after buying an additional 25,751 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.49% of the company’s stock.

About Southern Missouri Bancorp

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc (NASDAQ: SMBC) is a bank holding company headquartered in West Plains, Missouri, serving as the parent of Southern Bank. The company focuses on delivering community banking services to individual and commercial customers across southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. It operates branch offices in local markets and provides a comprehensive suite of deposit and lending products tailored to both urban and rural communities.

Through its subsidiary, Southern Bank, the company offers deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside digital and mobile banking platforms.