Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 48,400 shares, a drop of 36.6% from the October 31st total of 76,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 33,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Insider Activity at Southern Missouri Bancorp

In related news, Director William E. Young sold 3,000 shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.90, for a total transaction of $179,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 16.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern Missouri Bancorp

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Southern Missouri Bancorp during the second quarter valued at $210,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Southern Missouri Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $233,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Southern Missouri Bancorp by 139.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,673 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 2,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $273,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.49% of the company’s stock.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SMBC traded down $0.51 on Friday, reaching $65.65. 28,934 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,865. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.57. Southern Missouri Bancorp has a 52 week low of $39.00 and a 52 week high of $68.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $740.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09 and a beta of 0.95.

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The savings and loans company reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $74.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.48 million. Southern Missouri Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 17.44%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southern Missouri Bancorp will post 4.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Southern Missouri Bancorp’s payout ratio is 21.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.