SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) Shares Gap Up After Dividend Announcement

SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock had previously closed at $98.59, but opened at $103.50. SouthState shares last traded at $105.12, with a volume of 139,257 shares trading hands.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SSB shares. UBS Group assumed coverage on SouthState in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $132.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on SouthState in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Hovde Group cut SouthState from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of SouthState from $111.00 to $103.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of SouthState in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.56.

SouthState Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.94 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50-day moving average is $103.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.21.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $426.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $429.47 million. SouthState had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 9.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that SouthState Co. will post 6.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SouthState

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SSB. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,820,303 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $176,931,000 after purchasing an additional 31,340 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in SouthState by 7.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 987,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $95,999,000 after acquiring an additional 72,181 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in SouthState by 4.9% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 731,802 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,117,000 after acquiring an additional 34,194 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in SouthState by 3.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 711,853 shares of the bank’s stock worth $69,178,000 after acquiring an additional 25,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 3.8% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 622,084 shares of the bank’s stock worth $60,454,000 after acquiring an additional 22,855 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.