Southside Bancshares (NYSE:SBSI) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SBSI)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $34.70 and last traded at $34.2560, with a volume of 6569 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $34.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SBSI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Southside Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southside Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

Southside Bancshares Trading Down 1.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is $32.83 and its 200 day moving average is $31.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Southside Bancshares (NYSE:SBSI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $70.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $70.92 million. Southside Bancshares had a net margin of 15.85% and a return on equity of 10.81%. On average, research analysts forecast that Southside Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southside Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Southside Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southside Bancshares

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southside Bancshares by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,031,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,751,000 after purchasing an additional 31,575 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Southside Bancshares by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,384,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,051,000 after purchasing an additional 7,496 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 7,706 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Southside Bancshares by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 405,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,335,000 after acquiring an additional 37,253 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southside Bancshares by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 351,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,689,000 after acquiring an additional 36,675 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.70% of the company’s stock.

Southside Bancshares Company Profile

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.