Southside Bancshares, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:SBSI) recent 4.9% pullback adds to one-year year losses, institutional owners may take drastic measures

Key Insights

• Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Southside Bancshares' stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership
• Insiders have bought recently

A look at the shareholders of Southside Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBSI) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 56% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And institutional investors endured the highest losses after the company's share price fell by 4.9% last week. Needless to say, the recent loss which further adds to the one-year loss to shareholders of 16% might not go down well especially with this category of shareholders. Institutions or "liquidity providers" control large sums of money and therefore, these types of investors usually have a lot of influence over stock price movements. As a result, if the decline continues, institutional investors may be pressured to sell Southside Bancshares which might hurt individual investors.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Southside Bancshares, beginning with the chart below.

See our latest analysis for Southside Bancshares

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Southside Bancshares?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that Southside Bancshares does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Southside Bancshares' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Southside Bancshares is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that BlackRock, Inc. is the largest shareholder with 15% of shares outstanding. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 7.3% of common stock, and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP holds about 4.1% of the company stock.

After doing some more digging, we found that the top 25 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Southside Bancshares

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in Southside Bancshares, Inc.. The insiders have a meaningful stake worth US$55m. Most would see this as a real positive. It is good to see this level of investment by insiders. You can check here to see if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 39% stake in Southside Bancshares. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Southside Bancshares (including 1 which is a bit unpleasant) .

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.