Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Cuts Holdings in Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBSI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its position in shares of Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBSI) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,800 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Southside Bancshares were worth $461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SBSI. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Southside Bancshares by 73.6% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,533 shares of the bank’s stock worth $571,000 after purchasing an additional 8,280 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in Southside Bancshares by 1.5% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 25,150 shares of the bank’s stock worth $735,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Southside Bancshares by 8.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 65,458 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,913,000 after acquiring an additional 4,900 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Southside Bancshares by 0.9% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 266,202 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,781,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456 shares during the period. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in Southside Bancshares by 185.9% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 24,028 shares of the bank’s stock worth $702,000 after acquiring an additional 15,625 shares during the period. 55.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider T L. Arnold, Jr. sold 4,667 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.71, for a total value of $157,324.57. Following the sale, the insider now owns 16,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $554,226.11. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Southside Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ SBSI opened at $32.74 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $33.23 and its 200-day moving average is $30.40. Southside Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.30 and a 12-month high of $36.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $992.35 million, a P/E ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 0.55.

Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $68.25 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Southside Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Southside Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. Southside Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on SBSI. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southside Bancshares from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Southside Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

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.