Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Increases Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) Price Target to $63.00

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $61.00 to $63.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective points to a potential downside of 5.05% from the stock’s previous close.

GSBC has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Great Southern Bancorp in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Great Southern Bancorp from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. One equities research 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, Great Southern Bancorp has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.50.

Great Southern Bancorp Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ GSBC opened at $66.35 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $62.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. Great Southern Bancorp has a 52-week low of $47.57 and a 52-week high of $67.70. The company has a market capitalization of $742.46 million, a P/E ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 0.52.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $56.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.03 million. Great Southern Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 20.70%. Equities analysts forecast that Great Southern Bancorp will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Mark A. Maples sold 1,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.93, for a total value of $86,898.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John M. Bugh sold 1,750 shares of Great Southern Bancorp stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 27.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Great Southern Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 101.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 16,452 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,008,000 after buying an additional 8,287 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Great Southern Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,072,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 10,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $665,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in Great Southern Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $392,000. 41.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.