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

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 27,379 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 12% from the previous session’s volume of 31,006 shares.The stock last traded at $54.80 and had previously closed at $55.57.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SMBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Southern Missouri Bancorp from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Trading Down 0.3 %

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $57.66 and a 200 day moving average of $58.96. The stock has a market cap of $619.90 million, a PE ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The savings and loans company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.07. Southern Missouri Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.45% and a net margin of 17.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. Southern Missouri Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern Missouri Bancorp

In other Southern Missouri Bancorp news, Director Douglas Bagby sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total value of $413,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,240,680. The trade was a 25.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 16.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SMBC. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Southern Missouri Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $74,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Southern Missouri Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $138,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern Missouri Bancorp by 147.5% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,542 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,111 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 139.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,673 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 2,722 shares during the period. 49.49% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Company Profile

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.