Boothbay Fund Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in SouthState Co. by purchasing 98,782 shares worth approximately $9.17 million, now holding 0.10% of the company as of the latest SEC filing.
• SouthState recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.60 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.4%, up from the previous $0.54.
• Several institutional investors, including Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. and GAMMA Investing LLC, have significantly increased their stakes in SouthState during the first quarter, indicating strong institutional interest.

Boothbay Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 98,782 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $9,169,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC owned about 0.10% of SouthState as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SSB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SouthState by 31.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,079,578 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,028,406,000 after acquiring an additional 2,637,786 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of SouthState by 34.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,556,410 shares of the bank's stock valued at $422,915,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164,348 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SouthState by 2,221.8% during the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 727,341 shares of the bank's stock valued at $72,356,000 after acquiring an additional 696,014 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of SouthState during the first quarter valued at $62,230,000. Finally, FJ Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SouthState by 286.3% during the first quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 556,226 shares of the bank's stock valued at $51,629,000 after acquiring an additional 412,242 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

SouthState Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:SSB traded down $0.53 on Friday, reaching $103.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,362,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 921,122. SouthState Co. has a 1-year low of $77.74 and a 1-year high of $114.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $10.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 0.74. The business's 50-day moving average price is $97.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.33.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $840.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is an increase from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. SouthState's payout ratio is currently 35.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SSB. Barclays upped their price target on SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 price target (up previously from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Truist Financial began coverage on SouthState in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $106.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson increased their target price on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Hovde Group increased their target price on SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $115.27.

Insider Transactions at SouthState

In other news, Director G Stacy Smith acquired 2,500 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $92.30 per share, with a total value of $230,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher acquired 3,338 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $97.31 per share, with a total value of $324,820.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $807,089.14. This trade represents a 67.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 8,338 shares of company stock valued at $786,321 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

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.