SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Truist Financial

Truist Financial upgraded shares of SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of SouthState from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of SouthState from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $119.00 price objective on shares of SouthState in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of SouthState from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SouthState currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $116.90.

SouthState Price Performance

Shares of SouthState stock opened at $91.77 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $9.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $88.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.98. SouthState has a one year low of $70.68 and a one year high of $114.27.

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.12%.

Insider Transactions at SouthState

In other news, CAO Sara Arana sold 1,991 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total value of $200,652.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $482,433.86. This trade represents a 29.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher purchased 2,717 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $92.02 per share, with a total value of $250,018.34. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $431,481.78. The trade was a 137.78% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SouthState

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SSB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,637,786 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of SouthState by 34.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,556,410 shares of the bank’s stock worth $422,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164,348 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 0.3% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,479,298 shares of the bank’s stock worth $322,949,000 after purchasing an additional 11,728 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 93,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in SouthState by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,769,537 shares of the bank’s stock worth $164,249,000 after buying an additional 222,818 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.