Financial institutions announce 4Q dividends

The board of directors of Great Southern Bancorp Inc., the holding company for Great Southern Bank, announced Dec. 15 that there would be an increase of the quarterly dividend by 1 cent per share, or 9.1 percent, to 12 cents a share for the fourth quarter of the 2004 calendar year.

The dividend is the 60th consecutive dividend since Great Southern went public in December 1989. It is payable on Jan. 14 to shareholders of record on Jan. 3.

According to the company’s Web site, www.greatsouthernbank.com, Great Southern Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: GSBC) held $1.79 billion in assets as of Sept. 30, 2004. The company also had $1.26 billion in loans and $1.26 billion in deposits. Its stock closed Dec. 27 at $36.09 per share, compared to a 52-week low of $22.55 and a high of $43.25.

Springfield-based Great Southern Bank offers investment, banking, insurance and travel services to its customers through its 30 branches and more than 150 ATMs in southwest and central Missouri.

Guaranty Federal Bancshares Inc.

Guaranty Federal Bancshares Inc., the holding company for Springfield-based Guaranty Bank, announced Dec. 17 a quarterly dividend of 16 cents per share for more than 2.8 million shares of its common stock to be paid on Jan. 21 to stockholders of record on Jan. 7. The dividend is the 20th consecutive dividend paid since Guaranty Federal Bancshares Inc. was formed in December 1997.

According to Bruce Winston, Guaranty’s chief financial officer, the bank had assets totaling $445 million as of Nov. 30, 2004. The company also had loans of $400 million and deposits of $230 million.

Guaranty Federal Bancshares Inc. stock (Nasdaq: GFED) closed Dec. 27 at $24 per share, slightly below its 52-week high of $24.24.

Guaranty Bank has seven branches with 19 ATM locations in Greene and Christian counties.

A.G. Edwards Inc.

The board of directors at A.G. Edwards Inc. has authorized the repurchase of up to 10 million outstanding common shares, effective immediately and ending Dec. 31, 2006.

The board has given management discretion as to the timing of buybacks and whether to purchase any or all of the authorization. Shares will be used to offset dilution from the company’s stock-based employee-benefits and employee-compensation plans.

As of Oct. 31, the company had approximately 77 million outstanding shares and has repurchased about 9 million shares under another buyback authorization that began Jan. 1, 2003 and remained in effect until Dec. 31.

A.G. Edwards stock (NYSE: AGE) closed Dec. 27 at $42.80 a share, a new 52-week high.

A.G. Edwards Inc., based in St. Louis, is a financial services holding company whose primary subsidiary is national investment firm A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc.

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