SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $118.40.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SSB shares. Citigroup raised SouthState from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James raised SouthState from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $120.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group began coverage on SouthState in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $132.00 price objective for the company. Barclays began coverage on shares of SouthState in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of SouthState in a report on Friday, March 7th.

Insider Transactions at SouthState

In other SouthState news, Director G Stacy Smith acquired 3,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $93.60 per share, for a total transaction of $290,160.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 36,779 shares in the company, valued at $3,442,514.40. This trade represents a 9.20 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher purchased 2,717 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $92.02 per share, for a total transaction of $250,018.34. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 4,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $431,481.78. The trade was a 137.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SouthState

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of SouthState by 10.5% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 63,573 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,178,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in SouthState by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 408,894 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,736,000 after buying an additional 9,863 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SouthState in the 4th quarter worth $1,008,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of SouthState by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,153 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,083,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SouthState in the third quarter valued at about $265,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SouthState Price Performance

Shares of SSB opened at $81.47 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $8.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.65. SouthState has a fifty-two week low of $70.68 and a fifty-two week high of $114.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $97.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.33.

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. SouthState’s payout ratio is 31.03%.

About SouthState

SouthState Corporation operates as the bank holding company for SouthState Bank, National Association that provides a range of banking services and products to individuals and companies. It offers checking accounts, savings deposits, interest-bearing transaction accounts, certificates of deposits, money market accounts, and other time deposits, as well as bond accounting, asset/liability consulting related activities, and other clearing and corporate checking account services.