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

Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SBSI) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the five analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $35.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SBSI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Southside Bancshares from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Southside Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Southside Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of Southside Bancshares from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note 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.

Southside Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of SBSI opened at $33.47 on Friday. Southside Bancshares has a 1 year low of $26.32 and a 1 year high of $34.53. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.15. The company has a market capitalization of $995.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.18 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Southside Bancshares (NYSE:SBSI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $70.92 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southside Bancshares will post 3.43 EPS for the current year.

Southside Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Southside Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 61.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southside Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 7,496 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Southside Bancshares by 6.5% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 15,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Southside Bancshares by 0.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 135,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Southside Bancshares by 35,847.8% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 16,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 16,490 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in Southside Bancshares by 7.8% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 16,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $514,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.70% of the company’s stock.

About Southside Bancshares

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.