SouthState Corporation: Superior Profitability, Capital Strength, and Growth Outlook Support Buy Rating and Valuation Premium

SouthState Corporation, the Financial sector company, was revisited by a Wall Street analyst yesterday. Analyst Michael Rose from Raymond James reiterated a Buy rating on the stock and has a $120.00 price target.

Michael Rose has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors reflecting SouthState Corporation’s strong recent performance and favorable outlook. He highlights that the bank’s latest quarterly earnings surpassed both his own and market expectations, driven by solid loan and deposit growth that supported higher net interest income, as well as better-than-anticipated fee revenues from correspondent banking activities. In addition, credit quality remains sound, allowing for a lower loan loss provision, and tangible book value per share continued to grow. The company also accelerated capital return through share repurchases that were above prior forecasts, reinforcing confidence in management’s capital deployment strategy.
Rose’s positive stance is further supported by management’s guidance, which points to a stable and attractive net interest margin, manageable funding costs, and mid- to upper-single-digit loan growth supported by a strong pipeline, particularly in newer markets such as Texas and Colorado. Fee income is expected to normalize at healthy levels relative to assets, while expense growth should remain controlled even as the bank invests in technology and adds commercial relationship managers to support future growth. He views the bank’s profitability, capital strength, and credit profile as superior to peers, justifying a valuation premium and underpinning his increased price target. Together, these factors lead him to see an attractive risk-reward profile for SSB shares and to reiterate a Buy recommendation.

In another report released yesterday, Piper Sandler also maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $118.00 price target.