Channing Capital Management LLC Sells 129,888 Shares of SouthState Co. $SSB

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 lessened its holdings in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 13.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 870,224 shares of the bank's stock after selling 129,888 shares during the period. SouthState makes up about 2.4% of Channing Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Channing Capital Management LLC owned about 0.86% of SouthState worth $80,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SSB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 31.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,079,578 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,028,406,000 after purchasing an additional 2,637,786 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,556,410 shares of the bank's stock valued at $422,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164,348 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 2,221.8% during the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 727,341 shares of the bank's stock valued at $72,356,000 after purchasing an additional 696,014 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SouthState during the 1st quarter valued at $62,230,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,437,262 shares of the bank's stock valued at $133,407,000 after purchasing an additional 397,371 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director G Stacy Smith purchased 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $92.30 per share, with a total value of $230,750.00. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher bought 3,338 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $97.31 per share, for a total transaction of $324,820.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 8,338 shares of company stock valued at $786,321. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

SouthState Stock Performance

SSB traded down $1.1390 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $99.2810. 457,622 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 924,296. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $94.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.26 and a beta of 0.79. 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 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 results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.12 million. SouthState had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 22.38%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SSB has been the subject of several analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $119.00 target price on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on SouthState in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $106.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, 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. Two investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $115.27.

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.