SouthState Co. $SSB Shares Purchased by Corebridge Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Corebridge Financial Inc. increased its stake in SouthState Co. by 26.0%, now owning a total of 155,700 shares valued at $14.45 million after acquiring an additional 32,088 shares.
• SouthState Co. has shown strong financial performance, with a recent earnings report revealing $2.30 earnings per share that exceeded expectations, alongside a forecasted 8.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• The company has raised its quarterly dividend from $0.54 to $0.60 per share, reflecting a positive change with an annualized yield of 2.4%.

Corebridge Financial Inc. boosted its position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 26.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,700 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 32,088 shares during the quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. owned 0.15% of SouthState worth $14,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of SouthState by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 943 shares of the bank's stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of SouthState by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,368 shares of the bank's stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SouthState by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,547 shares of the bank's stock valued at $253,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of SouthState by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the bank's stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of SouthState by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 8,222 shares of the bank's stock valued at $763,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

SouthState Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SSB traded up $0.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $102.04. The company had a trading volume of 564,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 919,112. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $95.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.33. SouthState Co. has a fifty-two week low of $77.74 and a fifty-two week high of $114.26.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $840.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $645.12 million. SouthState had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 22.38%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. SouthState's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SouthState

In other SouthState news, Director Janet P. Froetscher acquired 3,338 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $97.31 per share, with a total value of $324,820.78. Following the acquisition, the director 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 5,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, the insider owned 31,785 shares in the company, valued at $3,165,786. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 8,338 shares of company stock valued at $786,321. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SSB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 price objective (up previously from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research note on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of SouthState in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Two investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently 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.