Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 3,752 Shares of Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBSI)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBSI) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,250 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Southside Bancshares were worth $2,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Southside Bancshares by 54.4% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,099 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in Southside Bancshares by 447.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,099 shares of the bank’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its position in Southside Bancshares by 57.0% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 3,293 shares of the bank’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Southside Bancshares by 48.3% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,043 shares of the bank’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bill Few Associates Inc. bought a new position in Southside Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $222,000. 55.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Hovde Group raised their target price on Southside Bancshares from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com lowered Southside Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

Southside Bancshares Stock Performance

SBSI stock opened at $35.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.99. Southside Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.30 and a 1-year high of $38.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 0.55.

Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.05). Southside Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.64% and a net margin of 18.94%. The business had revenue of $113.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.25 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southside Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Southside Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. Southside Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider T L. Arnold, Jr. sold 4,667 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.71, for a total value of $157,324.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,441 shares in the company, valued at $554,226.11. This trade represents a 22.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Lee R. Gibson sold 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.74, for a total value 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. This represents a 5.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,187 shares of company stock worth $358,487 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.10% of the company’s stock.

Southside Bancshares 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.