Synovus Financial Corp Increases Stake in SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• Synovus Financial Corp has increased its stake in SouthState Co. by 5.1%, acquiring an additional 3,331 shares and bringing its total ownership to about $6.34 million.
• SouthState recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60, representing a boost from the previous dividend of $0.54, with a current yield of 2.4%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Buy" on SouthState shares, with a target price averaging $115.27 following positive earnings results that exceeded expectations.

Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 68,325 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 3,331 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp owned approximately 0.07% of SouthState worth $6,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in SouthState by 31.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,079,578 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,028,406,000 after buying an additional 2,637,786 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in SouthState by 34.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,556,410 shares of the bank's stock valued at $422,915,000 after buying an additional 1,164,348 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in SouthState by 0.3% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,479,298 shares of the bank's stock valued at $322,949,000 after buying an additional 11,728 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in SouthState by 14.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,769,537 shares of the bank's stock valued at $164,249,000 after buying an additional 222,818 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in SouthState by 38.2% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,437,262 shares of the bank's stock valued at $133,407,000 after buying an additional 397,371 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SSB shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of SouthState in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 price objective (up previously from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $110.00 price objective on shares of SouthState in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, SouthState has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $115.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Janet P. Froetscher acquired 3,338 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $97.31 per share, for a total transaction of $324,820.78. Following the acquisition, the director owned 8,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,089.14. This represents a 67.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director G Stacy Smith bought 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $92.30 per share, for a total transaction of $230,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 39,546 shares in the company, valued at $3,650,095.80. This trade represents a 6.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 8,338 shares of company stock worth $786,321. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

SouthState Stock Up 4.2%

SSB stock opened at $100.5380 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. SouthState Co. has a 1-year low of $77.74 and a 1-year high of $114.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.39. The firm has a market cap of $10.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 0.79.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.32. SouthState had a net margin of 22.38% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The firm had revenue of $840.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $645.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. SouthState's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.77%.

SouthState Profile

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.

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