Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Position in Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBSI)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBSI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,605 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $337,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Southside Bancshares by 139.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 292,680 shares of the bank's stock worth $9,296,000 after acquiring an additional 170,685 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Southside Bancshares by 79.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 385,154 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,876,000 after purchasing an additional 170,287 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Southside Bancshares by 137.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 59,263 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,981,000 after purchasing an additional 34,316 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in Southside Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $673,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Southside Bancshares by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 538,985 shares of the bank's stock worth $17,118,000 after buying an additional 20,800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.70% of the company's stock.

Southside Bancshares Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:SBSI traded up $0.82 during trading on Monday, reaching $29.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 129,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 116,502. The stock has a market capitalization of $897.45 million, a PE ratio of 10.21 and a beta of 0.65. Southside Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $25.30 and a 12 month high of $38.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $28.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.27.

Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $100.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.37 million. Southside Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.10% and a net margin of 19.40%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Southside Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southside Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. Southside Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SBSI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stephens decreased their target price on Southside Bancshares from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Southside Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Raymond James started coverage on Southside Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the 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.