Earnest Partners LLC Has $130.74 Million Stake in SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC reduced its stake in SouthState Co. by 2.1%, now holding approximately $130.74 million worth of shares.
• SouthState recently reported earnings of $2.30 per share, exceeding expectations, with a net revenue of $840.50 million for the quarter.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.60 per share, up from the previous $0.54, reflecting a 2.4% yield.

Earnest Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,408,514 shares of the bank's stock after selling 30,911 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned approximately 1.39% of SouthState worth $130,738,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in SouthState during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in SouthState by 1,103.4% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 698 shares of the bank's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

SouthState Stock Performance

Shares of SSB traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $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 cap of $10.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average of $95.96 and a 200-day moving average of $92.41. SouthState Co. has a 12 month low of $77.74 and a 12 month high of $114.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 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 business had revenue of $840.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.12 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. SouthState's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.77%.

Insider Activity at SouthState

In other SouthState news, Director G Stacy Smith purchased 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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. The trade was a 6.75% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher purchased 3,338 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $97.31 per share, for a total transaction of $324,820.78. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 8,338 shares of company stock worth $786,321. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SSB has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Hovde Group upped their price target 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. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 price target (up from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of SouthState in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Two 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price 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.