AQR Capital Management LLC Acquires 70,167 Shares of SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC has significantly increased its ownership in SouthState Co. by purchasing 70,167 shares, bringing its total holdings to 140,929 shares and valued at approximately $12.9 million.
• SouthState recently reported a quarterly EPS of $2.30, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.98, with revenue reaching $840.5 million.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.60, representing an annual yield of 2.4%, with the dividend payout ratio standing at 35.77%.

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 99.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,929 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 70,167 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 0.14% of SouthState worth $12,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in SouthState by 84.2% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 218,800 shares of the bank's stock worth $20,309,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC grew its position in SouthState by 286.3% in the first quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 556,226 shares of the bank's stock worth $51,629,000 after acquiring an additional 412,242 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in SouthState by 112.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 146,382 shares of the bank's stock worth $13,587,000 after acquiring an additional 77,387 shares in the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in SouthState in the first quarter worth approximately $653,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC bought a new stake in SouthState in the first quarter worth approximately $269,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of SouthState in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 price objective (up from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $115.27.

SouthState Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SSB traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $100.81. 524,090 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 910,067. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 0.74. SouthState Co. has a twelve month low of $77.74 and a twelve month high of $114.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $97.91 and a 200 day moving average of $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.

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

SouthState Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This is an increase from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. SouthState's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.77%.

Insider Activity at SouthState

In other SouthState news, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total value of $498,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 31,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,165,786. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director G Stacy Smith purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $92.30 per share, for a total transaction of $230,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 39,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,650,095.80. This trade represents a 6.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 8,338 shares of company stock worth $786,321 in the last ninety days. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

SouthState Profile

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.