South State price target raised to $128 from $120 at Barclays

Barclays raised the firm’s price target on South State (SSB) to $128 from $120 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares as part of a Q3 earnings preview for the mid-cap banks. Loan growth and deposit cost control should help drive earnings beats and positive guidance revisions, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Barclays believes another quarter of “clean credit” and good balance sheet trends “could pull investors off the sidelines.”