SouthState Co. $SSB Shares Sold by Comerica Bank

Key Points

• Comerica Bank reduced its holdings in SouthState Co. by 15.7%, owning 37,190 shares valued at approximately $3.45 million.
• SouthState recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, raising the annualized dividend yield to 2.4%.
• Analysts have provided a consensus rating of "Buy" for SouthState shares, with an average target price of $115.27.

Comerica Bank lessened its stake in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 15.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,190 shares of the bank's stock after selling 6,915 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in SouthState were worth $3,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SouthState during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of SouthState by 577.4% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 569 shares of the bank's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of SouthState by 181.7% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 586 shares of the bank's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC raised its position in shares of SouthState by 81.5% during the 1st quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 688 shares of the bank's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised 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 valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SSB. Barclays upped their target price on shares of SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson increased their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of SouthState in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Hovde Group increased their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 price objective (up from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Two equities research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, SouthState has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $115.27.

Insider Activity

In other SouthState news, Director Janet P. Froetscher acquired 3,338 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $97.31 per share, for a total transaction of $324,820.78. Following the completion of the purchase, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director G Stacy Smith acquired 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $92.30 per share, for a total transaction of $230,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 39,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,650,095.80. This represents a 6.75% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 8,338 shares of company stock worth $786,321. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

SouthState Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:SSB traded up $0.63 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $102.69. 969,678 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 919,417. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.39 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75 and a beta of 0.74. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $96.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.33. SouthState Co. has a 12-month low of $77.74 and a 12-month high of $114.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.32. SouthState had a net margin of 22.38% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The business had revenue of $840.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $645.12 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. SouthState's payout ratio is 35.77%.

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.