SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) Given Average Recommendation of "Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• SouthState Co. has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from eleven analysts, with a 12-month target price averaging $115.27.
• Insider transactions show increased confidence, with a director purchasing 2,500 shares at $92.30, raising their ownership by 6.75%.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend increase from $0.54 to $0.60, reflecting a positive outlook with an annualized dividend yield of 2.6%.

SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $115.2727.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial set a $110.00 target price on SouthState in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays increased their target price on SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on SouthState in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $106.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson increased their target price on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 target price (up previously from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research note on Monday, July 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Janet P. Froetscher acquired 3,338 shares of the 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 purchase, the director directly owned 8,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,089.14. The trade was a 67.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director G Stacy Smith acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $92.30 per share, for a total transaction of $230,750.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 39,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 90 days, insiders have acquired 8,338 shares of company stock worth $786,321. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SouthState

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

SouthState Stock Performance

Shares of SSB traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $92.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 936,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 944,864. SouthState has a 1-year low of $77.74 and a 1-year high of $114.26. The stock has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.23 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

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

SouthState Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a boost from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. SouthState's dividend payout ratio is 35.77%.

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.