DA Davidson Issues Negative Estimate for SouthState Earnings

SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) – Equities research analysts at DA Davidson cut their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for SouthState in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, April 2nd. DA Davidson analyst G. Tenner now forecasts that the bank will post earnings per share of $1.10 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.11. The consensus estimate for SouthState’s current full-year earnings is $8.12 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for SouthState’s FY2025 earnings at $7.51 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $9.20 EPS.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on SSB. Barclays initiated coverage on SouthState in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of SouthState in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James raised SouthState from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group began coverage on shares of SouthState in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $132.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of SouthState from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SouthState presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.40.

SouthState Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of SouthState stock opened at $81.47 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.68. SouthState has a 12-month low of $70.68 and a 12-month high of $114.27. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.03%.

Insider Activity at SouthState

In other SouthState news, Director Janet P. Froetscher bought 2,717 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $92.02 per share, with a total value of $250,018.34. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,689 shares in the company, valued at $431,481.78. This represents a 137.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 6,531 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.29, for a total transaction of $707,241.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,107 shares in the company, valued at $3,693,447.03. This represents a 16.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SouthState

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of SouthState during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of SouthState during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of SouthState by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of SouthState by 577.4% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 569 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of SouthState by 181.7% in 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 during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.