SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) Upgraded by Raymond James to Strong-Buy Rating

Raymond James upgraded shares of SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Raymond James currently has $115.00 price target on the bank’s stock, down from their prior price target of $120.00.

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

SouthState Trading Up 2.6 %

SouthState stock opened at $94.66 on Wednesday. SouthState has a one year low of $70.68 and a one year high of $114.27. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $98.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.68.

SouthState Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at SouthState

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SouthState

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of SouthState during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in SouthState during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in SouthState by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of SouthState by 181.7% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 586 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in SouthState in the 4th quarter valued at $102,000. 89.76% of the stock is 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.