Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC) shares saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 49,427 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 23% from the previous session’s volume of 40,297 shares.The stock last traded at $54.66 and had previously closed at $54.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on SMBC. Weiss Ratings lowered Southern Missouri Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler set a $60.50 target price on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.83.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Trading Down 0.3%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $618.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 1.05.

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 10th. The savings and loans company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $30.15 million during the quarter. Southern Missouri Bancorp had a net margin of 19.86% and a return on equity of 11.74%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.06 EPS for the current year.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Southern Missouri Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern Missouri Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 2.6% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 31,840 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,674,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the period. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in the third quarter worth $339,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Southern Missouri Bancorp by 0.9% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 432,463 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $22,731,000 after purchasing an additional 4,037 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Southern Missouri Bancorp by 6.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,200 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Southern Missouri Bancorp by 10.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 25,751 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.49% of the company’s stock.

About Southern Missouri Bancorp

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Southern Bank that provides banking and financial services to individuals and corporate customers in the United States. The company offers deposits products, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing transaction accounts, saving accounts, certificates of deposit, retirement savings plans, and money market deposit accounts.