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

Southern States Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSBK - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 37,200 shares, a decrease of 17.9% from the September 30th total of 45,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 15,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 0.6% of the company's shares are short sold.

Insider Activity at Southern States Bancshares

In related news, Director Brent O. Hitson sold 2,000 shares of the company'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 owns 21,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $678,041.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Brent O. Hitson sold 2,000 shares of the company'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 owns 21,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $678,041.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jay F. Pumroy sold 2,995 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.13, for a total transaction of $96,229.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 100,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,868.62. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern States Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in Southern States Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $257,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Southern States Bancshares by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 50,521 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 9,244 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern States Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $245,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Southern States Bancshares by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 8,958 shares of the company's stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Southern States Bancshares by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 40,045 shares of the company's stock worth $1,087,000 after acquiring an additional 3,708 shares during the period. 58.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on SSBK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Southern States Bancshares in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Hovde Group dropped their price target on shares of Southern States Bancshares from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Southern States Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SSBK traded up $1.17 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $32.24. The stock had a trading volume of 40,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,121. Southern States Bancshares has a 1-year low of $22.13 and a 1-year high of $34.72. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $30.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $287.58 million, a P/E ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 0.21.

Southern States Bancshares (NASDAQ:SSBK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.07). Southern States Bancshares had a net margin of 19.33% and a return on equity of 14.88%. The firm had revenue of $46.83 million during the quarter.

Southern States Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Southern States Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.14%.

About Southern States Bancshares

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.