Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $422.92 Million Stake in SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in SouthState Co. by 34.3%, holding 4,556,410 shares valued at approximately $422.92 million as of their latest filing.
• SouthState recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.30, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.98, with revenue reaching $840.5 million for the quarter.
• The company announced a dividend increase to $0.60 per share, reflecting a 2.5% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 35.77%.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 34.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,556,410 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 1,164,348 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 4.49% of SouthState worth $422,915,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of SouthState during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of SouthState by 577.4% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 569 shares of the bank's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of SouthState by 181.7% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 586 shares of the bank's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of SouthState in the 1st quarter worth approximately $69,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of SouthState by 253.3% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 756 shares of the bank's stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

SouthState Trading Down 0.1%

SSB traded down $0.0580 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $96.5420. The stock had a trading volume of 99,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 925,990. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 0.79. 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's fifty day simple moving average is $93.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.67. SouthState Co. has a 52 week low of $77.74 and a 52 week high of $114.26.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.32. The firm 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 period last year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. SouthState's dividend payout ratio is 35.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson increased their target price on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on SouthState in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $119.00 target price on shares of SouthState in a report on Monday, April 28th. Hovde Group increased their target price on SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $115.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director G Stacy Smith acquired 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $92.30 per share, for a total transaction 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 represents a 6.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher purchased 3,338 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was bought 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 $807,089.14. The trade was a 67.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 8,338 shares of company stock worth $786,321 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

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.