South State Corp (NASDAQ:SSB) – Equities researchers at FIG Partners decreased their Q3 2019 earnings per share estimates for shares of South State in a report released on Tuesday, April 30th, according to Zacks Investment Research. FIG Partners analyst C. Marinac now forecasts that the bank will post earnings of $1.42 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.43. FIG Partners also issued estimates for South State’s Q4 2019 earnings at $1.46 EPS and Q4 2020 earnings at $1.53 EPS.
South State (NASDAQ:SSB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.26. The firm had revenue of $155.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $158.86 million. South State had a net margin of 25.49% and a return on equity of 8.27%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS.
SSB has been the topic of several other research reports. BidaskClub upgraded South State from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. SunTrust Banks increased their price objective on South State to $85.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded South State from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.40.
Shares of SSB stock traded up $0.32 on Thursday, hitting $74.04. The stock had a trading volume of 81,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 140,452. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a PE ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 1.25. South State has a 1 year low of $56.55 and a 1 year high of $93.25.
Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of South State by 42.0% during the 4th quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. now owns 876,688 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $52,557,000 after buying an additional 259,232 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in South State by 738.8% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 270,004 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,452,000 after buying an additional 237,815 shares during the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in South State during the fourth quarter worth $14,182,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in South State during the fourth quarter worth $13,657,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in South State by 11.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,758,041 shares of the bank’s stock worth $120,146,000 after buying an additional 182,934 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.86% of the company’s stock.
In other news, Director James C. Cherry sold 1,785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.96, for a total value of $135,588.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $531,720. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Keith S. Rainwater sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $35,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 6,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $436,366. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,232 shares of company stock worth $451,365. Insiders own 2.05% of the company’s stock.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This is a boost from South State’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. South State’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.09%.
South State Company Profile
South State Corporation operates as the bank holding company for South State Bank that provides a range of retail and commercial banking services, mortgage lending services, trust and wealth management services, and consumer finance loans. The company accepts demand deposits, savings deposits, interest-bearing transaction accounts, certificates of deposit, and other time deposits; and offers lending and credit card, and ATM processing services.