Brokerages Set Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SBSI) Target Price at $34.75

Shares of Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SBSI) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.75.

Several research firms recently issued reports on SBSI. Zacks Research downgraded Southside Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings cut Southside Bancshares from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Southside Bancshares from $37.00 to $35.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Benchmark began coverage on shares of Southside Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Southside Bancshares from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southside Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Southside Bancshares during the second quarter worth approximately $150,305,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southside Bancshares by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,031,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,751,000 after acquiring an additional 31,575 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Southside Bancshares by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,384,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,051,000 after acquiring an additional 7,496 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Southside Bancshares by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,308,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,769,000 after acquiring an additional 7,706 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Southside Bancshares by 3,466.7% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 939,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,046,000 after acquiring an additional 912,751 shares during the period. 55.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southside Bancshares Stock Down 0.1%

Southside Bancshares stock opened at $32.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $954.84 million, a P/E ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Southside Bancshares has a twelve month low of $26.32 and a twelve month high of $36.20. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $33.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.76.

Southside Bancshares (NYSE:SBSI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $71.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $75.00 million. Southside Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.16% and a net margin of 16.70%. As a group, analysts expect that Southside Bancshares will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

Southside Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This is a boost from Southside Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Southside Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.27%.

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.