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

SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $115.44.

SSB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group began coverage on shares of SouthState in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $132.00 price target for the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of SouthState in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of SouthState from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

SouthState Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of SSB opened at $92.77 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.67. The company has a market cap of $9.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 0.68. 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 has a one year low of $70.68 and a one year high of $114.27.

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. SouthState’s payout ratio is currently 31.03%.

Insider Transactions at SouthState

In related news, Director Janet P. Froetscher acquired 2,717 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased 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 in the company, valued at $431,481.78. This represents a 137.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director G Stacy Smith acquired 3,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $93.60 per share, for a total transaction of $290,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,442,514.40. This represents a 9.20 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SouthState

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of SouthState by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,913,615 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $192,531,000 after acquiring an additional 93,312 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in SouthState by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,111,758 shares of the bank’s stock worth $110,598,000 after purchasing an additional 95,841 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in SouthState by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,039,891 shares of the bank’s stock worth $103,448,000 after purchasing an additional 52,042 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in SouthState by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 851,455 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,703,000 after purchasing an additional 139,602 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in SouthState by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 842,498 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,812,000 after purchasing an additional 37,796 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

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.