Short Interest in Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC) Increases By 35.1%

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 65,400 shares, a growth of 35.1% from the November 15th total of 48,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 32,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William E. Young sold 3,000 shares of the company’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 owns 48,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,914,075.10. This represents a 5.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 16.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SMBC. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Southern Missouri Bancorp by 48.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 104,175 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $6,105,000 after acquiring an additional 33,902 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Southern Missouri Bancorp by 90.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 25,273 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 11,996 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 217,753 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $12,304,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management bought a new stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $273,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 11.8% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 8,420 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 889 shares during the period. 49.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SMBC shares. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Price Performance

Southern Missouri Bancorp stock traded down $1.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $63.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,065. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $715.60 million, a PE ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 0.97. Southern Missouri Bancorp has a 52 week low of $39.00 and a 52 week high of $68.69. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $62.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.32.

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $74.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.48 million. Southern Missouri Bancorp had a net margin of 17.44% and a return on equity of 10.18%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Missouri Bancorp will post 4.9 EPS for the current year.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Southern Missouri Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.15%.

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.