Federated Hermes Inc. Has $4.92 Million Stock Holdings in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in SouthState Co. by 18.0%, owning 53,035 shares valued at approximately $4.9 million.
• Insider trading activity shows that Director G Stacy Smith and Director Janet P. Froetscher purchased shares, with Smith increasing his position by 6.75% and Froetscher by 67.35%.
• SouthState announced a dividend increase to $0.60 per share, up from $0.54, representing a 2.6% yield, which will be paid on August 15th.

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 18.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,035 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 8,095 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.05% of SouthState worth $4,923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SSB. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in SouthState during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of SouthState by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the bank's stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in SouthState by 577.4% during 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 during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Collier Financial purchased a new position in SouthState in the 1st quarter worth $69,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SSB shares. Hovde Group increased their price target on SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of SouthState in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $106.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson raised their target price on 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 started coverage on shares of SouthState in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $115.27.

Insider Activity at SouthState

In other news, Director G Stacy Smith acquired 2,500 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $92.30 per share, with a total value of $230,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 39,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,650,095.80. The trade was a 6.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher purchased 3,338 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $97.31 per share, with a total value 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 represents a 67.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 8,338 shares of company stock valued at $786,321. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

SouthState Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SSB traded down $1.19 during trading on Thursday, hitting $91.88. The company had a trading volume of 297,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 941,663. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 0.79. SouthState Co. has a 12 month low of $77.74 and a 12 month high of $114.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.32. SouthState had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 22.38%. The business had revenue of $840.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $645.12 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is an increase from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. SouthState's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.77%.

SouthState 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.