Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stake in Southside Bancshares, Inc. $SBSI

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SBSI) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,031,944 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 31,575 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 6.76% of Southside Bancshares worth $61,751,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Polaris Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southside Bancshares by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC now owns 62,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after purchasing an additional 727 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Southside Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,260,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Southside Bancshares by 36.1% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 2,677 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southside Bancshares by 21.5% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of Southside Bancshares by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 28,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.70% of the company’s stock.

Southside Bancshares Stock Performance

NYSE:SBSI opened at $32.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $31.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.33. Southside Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.32 and a twelve month high of $34.53. The company has a market capitalization of $962.30 million, a P/E ratio of 13.71 and a beta of 0.59.

Southside Bancshares (NYSE:SBSI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.02. Southside Bancshares had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The firm had revenue of $70.29 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.92 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Southside Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southside Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. Southside Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SBSI shares. Hovde Group increased their price target on shares of Southside Bancshares from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southside Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Southside Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Southside Bancshares from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southside Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Southside Bancshares Profile

Southside Bancshares Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Tyler, Texas. Through its subsidiary, Southside Bank, it provides a broad array of commercial and consumer banking services to individuals and businesses. The company’s offerings include deposit products, loan facilities and treasury management solutions tailored to the needs of its clientele. Established in 1974, Southside Bancshares has grown its footprint across East and North Texas while maintaining a community banking focus.

In the commercial banking segment, the company extends financing for real estate development, construction projects, equipment purchases and working capital needs.