Legato Capital Management LLC Sells 9,636 Shares of Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. $GSBC

Legato Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC) by 41.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,706 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,636 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Great Southern Bancorp were worth $844,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. LSV Asset Management increased its position in Great Southern Bancorp by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 130,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,057,000 after purchasing an additional 27,487 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Great Southern Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at $203,000. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 4,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in shares of Great Southern Bancorp by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 12,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 1,498 shares during the period. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Great Southern Bancorp by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Great Southern Bancorp

In related news, CEO Joseph W. Turner sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.16, for a total value of $408,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 136,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,282,165.12. This represents a 4.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP John M. Bugh sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.59, for a total value of $168,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 1,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,986.10. This represents a 58.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 13,687 shares of company stock worth $938,407 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 29.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GSBC shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Great Southern Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Great Southern Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Great Southern Bancorp from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Great Southern Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Great Southern Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $65.00.

Great Southern Bancorp Stock Performance

GSBC opened at $70.93 on Tuesday. Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $53.76 and a 52-week high of $71.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $772.43 million, a P/E ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $66.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.51.

Great Southern Bancorp (NASDAQ:GSBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $54.75 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Great Southern Bancorp Announces Dividend

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