AQR Capital Management LLC Has $12.92 Million Stock Holdings in 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 increased its position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 99.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 140,929 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 70,167 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.14% of SouthState worth $12,922,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in SouthState by 577.4% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 569 shares of the bank's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in SouthState by 181.7% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 586 shares of the bank's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC raised its holdings in SouthState by 81.5% in the 1st quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 688 shares of the bank's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of SouthState by 1,103.4% during the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 698 shares of the bank's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new position in shares of SouthState during the 1st quarter worth approximately $67,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SouthState Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of SSB stock traded down $0.89 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $101.31. 569,164 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 912,286. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $97.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.44. The stock has a market cap of $10.25 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 0.74. SouthState Co. has a 12 month low of $77.74 and a 12 month high of $114.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $645.12 million. SouthState had a net margin of 22.38% and a return on equity of 9.62%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The company 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 is a boost from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. SouthState's payout ratio is 35.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SSB. Hovde Group increased their target price on shares of SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of SouthState in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Barclays increased 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. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 price target (up previously from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $115.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

SouthState Company 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.