Why I'm Buying Stock in This Underestimated Regional Bank

Motley Fool analyst Anand Chokkavelu is making a new buy in his bank-centric real-money portfolio.

Unless you're from Missouri or a surrounding state, it's likely you've never heard of Great Southern Bancorp (NAS: GSBC) . This small regional bank is one to pay attention to, trading at nine times earnings, and 1.4 times tangible book value, with a 14.3% return on equity. That last stat is exceedingly impressive, as any return over 10% is generally considered good in this environment.

There's a lot more simplicity to be found in the smaller banks, and it's easier to understand what's going on with their loan portfolios. The smaller banks are less followed by Wall Street, and they generally pay out some nice dividends. Great Southern has a solid history of operational performance and has been conservative in the past. In short, it's a bank to look into.

Great Southern Bancorp is a good example of the opportunity in small, under-the-radar banks. We profile another one in our free report: The Stocks Only the Smartest Investors Are Buying. Just click here to keep reading.

The article Why I'm Buying Stock in This Underestimated Regional Bank originally appeared on Fool.com.

Anand Chokkavelu owns shares of Great Southern Bancorp, Fifth Third Bancorp, Huntington Bancshares, KeyCorp, and PNC, as well as warrants in PNC. Andrew Tonner has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. The Motley Fool owns shares of Fifth Third Bancorp, Huntington Bancshares, KeyCorp, and PNC Financial Services. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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