Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $68.50 and last traded at $68.15, with a volume of 9024 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $67.05.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on SMBC. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Southern Missouri Bancorp from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $746.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company’s 50 day moving average is $58.21 and its 200-day moving average is $50.71.

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). Southern Missouri Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 17.44%. The firm had revenue of $74.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.48 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. will post 4.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Southern Missouri Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William E. Young sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.90, for a total transaction of $179,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 48,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,914,075.10. The trade was a 5.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 16.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SMBC. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Southern Missouri Bancorp by 86.8% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,747 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,206 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 7.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,701 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $774,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 578,818 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $25,300,000 after purchasing an additional 3,821 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 6.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 52,423 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,360,000 after purchasing an additional 3,282 shares during the period. 49.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.