JPMorgan Chase & Co. Increases Holdings in Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:SMBC) by 243.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,033 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 60,953 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.76% of Southern Missouri Bancorp worth $4,936,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,113 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 208,097 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $11,939,000 after buying an additional 31,267 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 198,201 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $11,196,000 after acquiring an additional 6,135 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Southern Missouri Bancorp by 48.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 104,175 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $6,105,000 after purchasing an additional 33,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Southern Missouri Bancorp by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 91,520 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,251,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563 shares in the last quarter. 49.49% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Southern Missouri Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ SMBC opened at $49.24 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $588.86 million, a P/E ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.00 and a fifty-two week high of $68.69.

Southern Missouri Bancorp (NASDAQ:SMBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The savings and loans company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.07. Southern Missouri Bancorp had a net margin of 17.72% and a return on equity of 10.45%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. Southern Missouri Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Douglas Bagby sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.08, for a total value of $413,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,240,680. This represents a 25.00 % 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. Company insiders own 16.60% of the company’s stock.

Southern Missouri Bancorp Profile

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.