SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) Raised to Strong-Buy at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. Raymond James currently has $115.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $120.00.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on SSB. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of SouthState in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of SouthState in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $132.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of SouthState from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on SouthState in a report on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SouthState has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.40.

SouthState Trading Up 2.6 %

NASDAQ:SSB opened at $94.66 on Wednesday. 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 has a 1-year low of $70.68 and a 1-year high of $114.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $98.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.54.

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. SouthState’s payout ratio is presently 31.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SouthState

In other SouthState news, Director Janet P. Froetscher acquired 2,717 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $92.02 per share, with a total value of $250,018.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,689 shares in the company, valued at $431,481.78. This trade represents a 137.78 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director G Stacy Smith bought 3,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $93.60 per share, with a total value of $290,160.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,442,514.40. This represents a 9.20 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of SouthState

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SSB. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of SouthState during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of SouthState in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in SouthState by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in SouthState by 181.7% during the first 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. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in SouthState in the fourth quarter valued at $102,000. 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.