Southside to Open Branches in Austin, Texas

Southside Bancshares (SBSI) in Tyler, Texas, will open two branches in Austin, Texas, next year.

One of the branches will be located where the $3.4 billion-asset company currently has a loan production office, the Austin Business Journal reported online Friday.

Southside currently has approximately 40 branches, mostly in eastern Texas. It said earlier this month that it would pay a special dividend of 13 cents per share and a onetime dividend of 20 cents per share that is separate from its regular dividend. Concerns over the tax rate on dividends possibly rising next year motivated Southside to issue the onetime payment, it said.