Hovde Group Downgrades SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) to Market Perform

Hovde Group cut shares of SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of SouthState from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of SouthState from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective (up previously from $115.00) on shares of SouthState in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of SouthState from $111.00 to $103.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of SouthState from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.11.

SouthState Price Performance

SSB stock opened at $106.85 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. SouthState has a one year low of $70.68 and a one year high of $113.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.15 billion, a PE ratio of 16.49 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $98.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.54.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.26. SouthState had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 9.41%. The company had revenue of $426.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $429.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that SouthState will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current year.

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 36,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,696,400. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other SouthState news, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,332,800. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 36,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,696,400. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SouthState

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Waldron Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SouthState during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of SouthState by 120.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 609 shares of the bank’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of SouthState by 53.9% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 548 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in SouthState during the 2nd quarter worth about $97,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in SouthState during the 2nd quarter worth about $133,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.