LSV Asset Management Raises Stake in Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. $GSBC

LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC) by 26.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 130,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,487 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management’s holdings in Great Southern Bancorp were worth $8,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GSBC. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in Great Southern Bancorp by 177.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 48,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,954,000 after purchasing an additional 30,863 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Great Southern Bancorp by 328.9% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 32,321 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,980,000 after purchasing an additional 24,786 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Great Southern Bancorp by 9.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 271,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,618,000 after purchasing an additional 24,131 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in Great Southern Bancorp by 121.5% in the third quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 39,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,435,000 after purchasing an additional 21,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Great Southern Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $1,146,000. Institutional investors own 41.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on GSBC. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Great Southern Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Great Southern Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Great Southern Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Great Southern Bancorp from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $65.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John M. Bugh sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.59, for a total transaction of $168,975.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,986.10. This represents a 58.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Joseph W. Turner sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.16, for a total transaction of $408,960.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 136,182 shares in the company, valued at $9,282,165.12. The trade was a 4.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 13,687 shares of company stock valued at $938,407 over the last three months. 29.75% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Great Southern Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GSBC opened at $70.93 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $66.27 and a 200 day moving average of $63.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $772.43 million, a PE ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 0.50. Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.76 and a 12-month high of $71.78.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.31. Great Southern Bancorp had a net margin of 21.33% and a return on equity of 11.29%. The firm had revenue of $55.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.75 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great Southern Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 30th. Great Southern Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.26%.

About Great Southern Bancorp

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.