Southern States Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSBK) Short Interest Update

Southern States Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSBK) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 37,200 shares, a drop of 17.9% from the September 30th total of 45,300 shares. Approximately 0.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 15,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern States Bancshares

In other Southern States Bancshares news, Director Brent O. Hitson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.17, for a total value of $62,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,753 shares in the company, valued at $678,041.01. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Jay F. Pumroy sold 2,995 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.13, for a total value of $96,229.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 100,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,868.62. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Brent O. Hitson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.17, for a total value of $62,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 21,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $678,041.01. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern States Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Southern States Bancshares by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 8,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern States Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $245,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in Southern States Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $257,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern States Bancshares by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 24,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $644,000 after acquiring an additional 886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Southern States Bancshares by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 40,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,087,000 after acquiring an additional 3,708 shares in the last quarter. 58.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern States Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SSBK opened at $31.07 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $277.14 million, a P/E ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 0.21. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Southern States Bancshares has a 1-year low of $22.13 and a 1-year high of $34.72.

Southern States Bancshares (NASDAQ:SSBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $46.83 million for the quarter. Southern States Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 19.33%.

Southern States Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Southern States Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 10.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Hovde Group cut their price objective on Southern States Bancshares from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (up from $35.00) on shares of Southern States Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Southern States Bancshares Company Profile

Southern States Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Southern States Bank that provides community banking services to businesses and individuals. The company provides various deposit products, such as savings, money market, and noninterest-bearing demand accounts; certificates of deposit; and time deposits.