Select Equity Group L.P. Invests $34.24 Million in SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• Select Equity Group L.P. acquired 368,860 shares of SouthState Co. stock, valued at approximately $34.2 million, representing about 0.36% ownership in the bank as of its latest SEC filing.
• SouthState increased its quarterly dividend to $0.60 per share, up from $0.54, reflecting an annual yield of 2.3% and a payout ratio of 35.77%.
• The bank reported $2.30 EPS for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates, with substantial revenue growth to $840.5 million compared to prior year’s $1.74 EPS.

Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 368,860 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $34,238,000. Select Equity Group L.P. owned approximately 0.36% of SouthState at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of SouthState by 153.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 10,229 shares of the bank's stock worth $949,000 after acquiring an additional 6,196 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in SouthState by 68.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,172 shares of the bank's stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in SouthState by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,093,176 shares of the bank's stock valued at $100,856,000 after buying an additional 51,933 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in SouthState by 32.1% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 11,492 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,066,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in SouthState by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 15,427 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,432,000 after buying an additional 3,127 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director G Stacy Smith acquired 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $92.30 per share, with a total value of $230,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 39,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,650,095.80. This trade represents a 6.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher bought 3,338 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was bought at an average price of $97.31 per share, for a total transaction of $324,820.78. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 8,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $807,089.14. The trade was a 67.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 8,338 shares of company stock valued at $786,321. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

SouthState Stock Performance

Shares of SSB stock traded down $1.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $100.98. The stock had a trading volume of 784,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 918,844. The business's fifty day moving average is $97.52 and its 200-day moving average is $92.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $10.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 0.74. SouthState Co. has a 1-year low of $77.74 and a 1-year high of $114.26.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $840.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $645.12 million. SouthState had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 22.38%.During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This is a boost from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. SouthState's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SSB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on SouthState in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $106.00 target price on the stock. Hovde Group upped their target price on SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $115.27.

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.