Royce & Associates LP Acquires New Position in Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBSI)

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP acquired a new stake in Southside Bancshares, purchasing 14,641 shares valued at approximately $424,000.
• Southside Bancshares recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 4.67%.
• Wall Street analysts forecast growth for Southside Bancshares, with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raising their price target from $32.00 to $33.00, while also rating it a "market perform."

Royce & Associates LP bought a new stake in shares of Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBSI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,641 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $424,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SBSI. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Southside Bancshares by 139.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 292,680 shares of the bank's stock valued at $9,296,000 after buying an additional 170,685 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Southside Bancshares by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 511,741 shares of the bank's stock valued at $16,253,000 after buying an additional 126,587 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Southside Bancshares by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,319,916 shares of the bank's stock valued at $41,921,000 after buying an additional 49,565 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Southside Bancshares by 2,583.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 35,881 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 34,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Southside Bancshares by 60.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 64,003 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,033,000 after purchasing an additional 24,172 shares in the last quarter. 55.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southside Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:SBSI traded down $0.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.66. 161,174 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 118,565. Southside Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.85 and a 12-month high of $38.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $865.93 million, a PE ratio of 9.85 and a beta of 0.67. The business's 50-day moving average price is $29.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.58.

Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $67.37 million. Southside Bancshares had a net margin of 19.40% and a return on equity of 11.10%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Southside Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southside Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. Southside Bancshares's payout ratio is presently 51.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SBSI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Southside Bancshares from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised Southside Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th.

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.