SouthState Co. $SSB is Channing Capital Management LLC's 5th Largest Position

Key Points

• Channing Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in SouthState Co. by 13% during the first quarter, now holding 870,224 shares worth approximately $80.77 million.
• Directors of SouthState have recently made significant stock purchases, including Janet P. Froetscher who bought 3,338 shares at an average price of $97.31 per share.
• SouthState Co. has been noted for its strong quarterly performance, reporting $2.30 EPS which surpassed estimates, and announcing an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.60 per share.

Channing Capital Management LLC cut its position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 13.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 870,224 shares of the bank's stock after selling 129,888 shares during the quarter. SouthState accounts for 2.4% of Channing Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Channing Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.86% of SouthState worth $80,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SSB. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SouthState during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of SouthState by 577.4% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 569 shares of the bank's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of SouthState by 181.7% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 586 shares of the bank's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC increased its position in shares of SouthState by 81.5% during the first quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 688 shares of the bank's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of SouthState during the first quarter worth $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total transaction of $498,000.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher purchased 3,338 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, the director directly owned 8,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $807,089.14. This represents 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 acquired 8,338 shares of company stock valued at $786,321. Insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

SouthState Stock Performance

NASDAQ SSB traded up $1.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $100.56. The company had a trading volume of 156,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 919,408. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. SouthState Co. has a 1-year low of $77.74 and a 1-year high of $114.26. The company has a market cap of $10.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day moving average of $94.70 and a 200-day moving average of $92.34.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. SouthState had a net margin of 22.38% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The company had revenue of $840.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.12 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change 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%. SouthState's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SSB shares. Barclays upped their price objective on SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 price objective (up previously from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group boosted their target price 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. Raymond James Financial set a $110.00 target price on shares of SouthState in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of SouthState in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target 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.