Denali Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBSI)

Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBSI) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 9,100 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Commerce Bank bought a new stake in Southside Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. Bill Few Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southside Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southside Bancshares by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,722 shares of the bank’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southside Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $334,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southside Bancshares by 16.1% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,990 shares of the bank’s stock worth $409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SBSI. StockNews.com upgraded Southside Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Hovde Group dropped their price target on Southside Bancshares from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 9th.

Southside Bancshares Price Performance

SBSI stock opened at $26.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Southside Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.30 and a 1 year high of $34.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.88 and a 200 day moving average of $28.65. The company has a market cap of $809.38 million, a P/E ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 0.55.

Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.04). Southside Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 19.79%. The firm had revenue of $112.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southside Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Southside Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. Southside Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.53%.

Southside Bancshares Company Profile

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.