Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI) Coverage Initiated at Raymond James

Raymond James began coverage on shares of Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI) in a research report report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Southside Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

Southside Bancshares Stock Performance

SBSI opened at $31.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $965.07 million, a PE ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 0.58. 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 has a 12-month low of $25.30 and a 12-month high of $38.00.

Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $113.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.25 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Southside Bancshares will post 2.98 EPS for the current year.

Southside Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Southside Bancshares’s payout ratio is 51.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Suni M. Davis sold 2,220 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $79,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $331,272. The trade was a 19.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lee R. Gibson sold 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.74, for a total transaction of $121,242.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 57,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,104,173.28. The trade was a 5.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southside Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southside Bancshares by 6.8% during the 2nd 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Southside Bancshares by 79.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 385,154 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,876,000 after acquiring an additional 170,287 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southside Bancshares by 95.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 238,087 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,574,000 after purchasing an additional 116,473 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Southside Bancshares by 1.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 168,450 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 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.