Southside Bancshares (NASDAQ:SBSI) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBSI)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $32.69, but opened at $31.05. Southside Bancshares shares last traded at $32.18, with a volume of 7,358 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James began coverage on Southside Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com cut Southside Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

Southside Bancshares Trading Down 4.6 %

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $33.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.18. 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 $945.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 0.58.

Southside Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 21st were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 21st. Southside Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Lee R. Gibson sold 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 57,272 shares in the company, valued at $2,104,173.28. The trade was a 5.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Suni M. Davis sold 2,220 shares of Southside Bancshares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $79,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,202 shares in the company, valued at $331,272. This represents a 19.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southside Bancshares

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SBSI. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Southside Bancshares by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 671,666 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,458,000 after purchasing an additional 3,097 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Southside Bancshares by 79.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 385,154 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,876,000 after purchasing an additional 170,287 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southside Bancshares by 95.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 238,087 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,574,000 after purchasing an additional 116,473 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Southside Bancshares by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 78,013 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,478,000 after buying an additional 3,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Southside Bancshares by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 63,273 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,747,000 after acquiring an additional 3,736 shares during the last quarter. 55.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.