Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBSI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $38.00 and last traded at $35.96, with a volume of 8534 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Southside Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Hovde Group upped their price target on Southside Bancshares from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

Southside Bancshares Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $33.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.05). Southside Bancshares had a net margin of 18.94% and a return on equity of 10.64%. The business had revenue of $113.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. Analysts forecast that Southside Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southside Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Southside Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 51.99%.

Insider Activity at Southside Bancshares

In related news, CEO Lee R. Gibson sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.74, for a total value of $121,242.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 57,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,104,173.28. This represents a 5.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Suni M. Davis sold 2,220 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $79,920.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,202 shares in the company, valued at $331,272. This trade represents a 19.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 10,187 shares of company stock worth $358,487. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southside Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Southside Bancshares by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 671,666 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,458,000 after buying an additional 3,097 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Southside Bancshares by 6.8% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 603,285 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,657,000 after acquiring an additional 38,500 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southside Bancshares by 95.8% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 238,087 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,574,000 after acquiring an additional 116,473 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Southside Bancshares by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 168,450 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southside Bancshares by 5.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 74,250 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,482,000 after buying an additional 3,752 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.70% of the company’s stock.

About Southside Bancshares

Southside Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Southside Bank that provides a range of financial services to individuals, businesses, municipal entities, and nonprofit organizations. Its deposit products include savings, money market, and interest and noninterest bearing checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposits.