SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) has received an average "Buy" rating from eleven brokerages, with one hold rating and two strong buys, indicating strong analyst confidence in the stock's performance.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.60 per share, reflecting a 2.4% yield and a payout ratio of 35.77%.
• In the latest quarter, SouthState exceeded earnings expectations with an EPS of $2.30, significantly surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.98.

SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $115.2727.

Several brokerages have issued reports on SSB. Hovde Group boosted their target price on SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on SouthState in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their target price on SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 target price (up previously from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, July 28th.

SouthState Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ SSB traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $103.03. 1,362,477 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 921,122. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $97.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. SouthState has a 52 week low of $77.74 and a 52 week high of $114.26. The stock has a market cap of $10.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 0.74.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.32. SouthState had a net margin of 22.38% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The company had revenue of $840.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $645.12 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. Analysts forecast that SouthState will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a boost from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. SouthState's payout ratio is presently 35.77%.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SouthState

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SSB. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in SouthState during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in SouthState during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in SouthState during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in SouthState during the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in SouthState by 49,800.0% during the second quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 499 shares of the bank's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SouthState Company 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.