Principal Financial Group Inc. Invests $867,000 in Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. $GSBC

Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $867,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of Great Southern Bancorp as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 177.7% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 48,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,954,000 after acquiring an additional 30,863 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Great Southern Bancorp by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 130,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,057,000 after purchasing an additional 27,487 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Great Southern Bancorp by 328.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 32,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,980,000 after purchasing an additional 24,786 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Great Southern Bancorp by 121.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 39,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,435,000 after purchasing an additional 21,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Great Southern Bancorp in the 1st quarter worth $1,146,000. Institutional investors own 41.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GSBC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research cut Great Southern Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings raised Great Southern Bancorp from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Great Southern Bancorp from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered 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 Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.00.

Great Southern Bancorp Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of GSBC stock opened at $80.31 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.76 and a 12-month high of $82.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $874.82 million, a P/E ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $76.25 and its 200 day moving average is $68.68.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $56.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.26 million. Great Southern Bancorp had a net margin of 20.72% and a return on equity of 10.86%. Research analysts expect that Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Great Southern Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 14th. Investors of record on Monday, June 29th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 29th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Great Southern Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Insider Activity at Great Southern Bancorp

In related news, VP Kevin L. Baker sold 2,800 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 14 shares in the company, valued at approximately $979.44. This represents a 99.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 29.75% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Great Southern Bancorp 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.