Southern States Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSBK) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Southern States Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SSBK) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 70,900 shares, a growth of 76.4% from the June 30th total of 40,200 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 23,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Southern States Bancshares Price Performance

SSBK traded down $0.51 on Friday, reaching $33.00. The company had a trading volume of 26,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,880. The company has a market capitalization of $294.03 million, a P/E ratio of 9.17 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.27 and a 200-day moving average of $26.16. Southern States Bancshares has a one year low of $21.70 and a one year high of $34.72.

Southern States Bancshares (NASDAQ:SSBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The company reported $1.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.11. Southern States Bancshares had a net margin of 20.68% and a return on equity of 15.96%. The business had revenue of $42.38 million during the quarter.

Southern States Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. Southern States Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 10.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern States Bancshares news, CFO Lynn J. Joyce sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.15, for a total value of $64,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,420,644.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 14.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AJOVista LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern States Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Southern States Bancshares by 141.6% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Southern States Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $121,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern States Bancshares by 3.7% in the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 24,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 886 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake 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 worth $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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $36.00 price target (up previously from $35.00) on shares of Southern States Bancshares in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

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.