Great Southern prepares to implement new stock repurchase program

Great Southern Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: GSBC) is preparing to launch a stock repurchase program as it wraps up another.

The company's board has authorized a new buyback program to start after an existing initiative launched in January is finalized, according to a news release yesterday. The existing program allowed for up to 1 million stock repurchases.

The new stock repurchase program was approved in November, said Kelly Polonus, the company's vice president and chief communications and marketing officer. It, too, would authorize 1 million shares to be repurchased.

The existing program is nearly finished, save some 177,000 shares to be repurchased. Polonus said the bank spent around $60 million through Sept. 30 on stock buyback investments.

"I can’t say at this time what the cost to the company will be when we purchase the 177,000 shares or the 1 million shares in the future," she said via email. "That will be subject to the market price and availability of shares, and our appetite for purchasing shares in those future periods."

The Springfield-based operator of Great Southern Bank in the third quarter reported net income of $18.1 million, down from $20.4 million a year earlier, according to past reporting.

GSBC shares were trading at $59.50 as of 11:47 a.m., compared with a 52-week range of $50.30 to $64.16 per share.