| Over a month ago | ||||
First Bank of Alabama,… First Bank of Alabama, FBA, subsidiary of FirstBanc of Alabama, and Southern States Bank, subsidiary of Southern States Bancshares announced that they have entered into an agreement whereby FBA will acquire the Heflin, AL and Ranburne, AL branches of Southern States. Under the terms of the agreement FBA will acquire the physical locations and most of the loan and deposit accounts associated with the branches. The branches are located at 654 Ross Street, Heflin, AL 36264 and 21044 Main Street, Ranburne, AL 36273. The proposed transaction will increase FBA's presence in East Central Alabama and give it an approximate 32% share of the bank deposits in Cleburne County, AL. Following completion of the transaction, FBA will have total assets in excess of $920M and will have twelve full-service locations across East Central Alabama. The proposed transaction is subject to customary closing conditions as well as approval by applicable bank regulatory authorities. It is expected to be completed in the second half of 2022. | ||||
Reports book value per… Reports book value per share $19.34. Reports tangible common equity to tangible assets 8.47%. Stephen Whatley, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Southern States, said, "We generated robust lending activity again in the first quarter, building on the momentum we established in 2021 with linked-quarter loan growth of 19.4%. Our investment in talent, combined with an economically vibrant footprint that presents ongoing organic expansion opportunities, positions us well for the year ahead. Our focus on disciplined growth enabled us to bolster net interest income while holding the line on expenses and improving our core efficiency ratio. As always, we are committed to strong credit quality and our loan portfolio bears this out as nonperforming loans totaled just 0.25% of total loans. Our commitment to excellent customer service, sound underwriting and responsible growth continually strengthens the franchise and serves our shareholders well through all credit cycles," said Whatley. | ||||
| Over a quarter ago | ||||
Southern States… Southern States Bancshares, the holding company for Southern States Bank, announced the appointment of Mark Chambers to the board of directors of the company and the bank. In addition to continuing to serve as President of both the company and the bank, Chambers was appointed CEO of the bank. Chambers has served as president of both Southern States and the bank since 2019. | ||||
Southern States announced… Southern States announced that its board of directors has approved a stock repurchase program that authorizes the company to repurchase up to $10M of its common stock. | ||||
Reports book value per… Reports book value per share $19.66. Reports tangible common equity to tangible assets 9%. Stephen Whatley, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Southern States, said, "Our execution on the strategies that have made Southern States a consistently high performing growth bank drove our strong 2021 performance. Our experienced bankers with deep ties to their attractive markets produced loan growth, excluding PPP loans, of 28.8% for the year, punctuated by annualized growth of 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Importantly, our asset quality metrics improved in 2021, reflecting our disciplined growth philosophy. Our nonperforming loans were down from the prior year to just 0.16% of gross loans. We successfully completed our initial public offering while building a healthy loan pipeline to begin 2022, and we are well-positioned to further enhance our franchise and create long-term value for our shareholders." | ||||
Reports book value per… Reports book value per share $19.33. Reports tangible common equity to tangible assets 10.11%. Stephen Whatley, Chairman and CEO of Southern States, said, "Our third quarter results demonstrated exceptionally strong loan growth, healthy profitability, and impressive credit quality. By continuing to execute on our strategic plan that focuses on organic growth in our attractive markets, we are well positioned to continue growing our franchise while leveraging our recent investments in people, infrastructure, and technology. We are very pleased to have completed our initial public offering in August. Becoming a public company is an important next chapter in our history, but our focus remains squarely on understanding and valuing the needs of our clients. By remaining consistent with our core values and continuing to deliver high levels of personalized service, we believe that we will continue to enhance the value of our franchise over the long term." | ||||
Truist analyst Jennifer… Truist analyst Jennifer Demba initiated coverage of Southern States with a Buy rating and $23 price target. The company has plenty of runway for growth over the next few years through hiring of revenue producers and sub-$1B asset community bank acquisitions in new and existing markets in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, Demba tells investors in a research note. | ||||
Truist analyst Jennifer… Truist analyst Jennifer Demba initiated coverage of Southern States with a Buy rating and $23 price target. | ||||
Keefe Bruyette analyst… Keefe Bruyette analyst Catherine Mealor initiated coverage of Southern States Bancshares with an Outperform rating and $24 price target. The analyst views Southern States as an "attractive organic growth story." | ||||
Opening Day: DoubleDown makes market debut in another slow week for IPOs »
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In another quiet week for…
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