Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SBSI) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SBSI) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.75.

SBSI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southside Bancshares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Stephens set a $37.00 price objective on Southside Bancshares in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research cut Southside Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Southside Bancshares from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Benchmark began coverage on Southside Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Southside Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of SBSI stock opened at $31.45 on Friday. Southside Bancshares has a 52-week low of $26.32 and a 52-week high of $36.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $937.49 million, a PE ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $32.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.66.

Southside Bancshares (NYSE:SBSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $71.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.00 million. Southside Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.16% and a net margin of 16.70%. As a group, analysts forecast that Southside Bancshares will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

Southside Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 20th. This is a positive change from Southside Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Southside Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southside Bancshares during the second quarter worth $150,305,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southside Bancshares by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,031,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,751,000 after purchasing an additional 31,575 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Southside Bancshares by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,384,745 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,051,000 after purchasing an additional 7,496 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Southside Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $9,213,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Southside Bancshares by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 135,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.70% of the company’s stock.

About Southside Bancshares

Southside Bancshares, Inc is a Texas-based bank holding company headquartered in Tyler, Texas. Its principal subsidiary, Southside Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, municipalities and other organizations.

Southside Bank offers deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, along with commercial, real estate, residential mortgage and consumer lending. The bank also provides treasury management, online and mobile banking, wealth management, trust and investment services, and other financial solutions.

Founded in 1960, Southside Bank serves communities primarily across East, North and Central Texas through banking locations and digital channels.