SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $117.90.

SSB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of SouthState from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group started coverage on SouthState in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $132.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James upgraded SouthState from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $120.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of SouthState in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of SouthState from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Janet P. Froetscher acquired 2,717 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $92.02 per share, for a total transaction of $250,018.34. Following the transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 6,531 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.29, for a total value of $707,241.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 34,107 shares in the company, valued at $3,693,447.03. The trade was a 16.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SouthState

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SouthState in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SouthState in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of SouthState by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in SouthState by 577.4% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 569 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in SouthState by 181.7% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 586 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

SouthState Stock Down 0.2 %

SSB stock opened at $81.38 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $8.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.55. 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.

SouthState Announces Dividend

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