Fifth Third Bancorp Acquires 33,327 Shares of SouthState Bank Corporation $SSB

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp significantly boosted its stake in SouthState Bank, increasing holdings by 3,071.6% in the first quarter to 34,412 shares worth about $3.18 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mostly positive, with SouthState Bank carrying an average “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $117.50, though UBS recently downgraded it to neutral.
• The bank posted solid recent results and pays a dividend, reporting Q1 EPS of $2.28 versus estimates of $2.21 and maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, or $2.40 annually.

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in SouthState Bank Corporation (NYSE:SSB - Free Report) by 3,071.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,412 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 33,327 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in SouthState Bank were worth $3,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in SouthState Bank by 100.0% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 420 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SouthState Bank during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SouthState Bank in the 1st quarter valued at $52,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of SouthState Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SouthState Bank during the 4th quarter valued at $68,000. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SSB shares. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of SouthState Bank from $110.00 to $108.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group cut shares of SouthState Bank from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $108.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings raised SouthState Bank from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Fundamental Research set a $120.00 price target on SouthState Bank in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded SouthState Bank from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SouthState Bank presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $117.50.

SouthState Bank Stock Performance

Shares of SouthState Bank stock opened at $103.06 on Monday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $97.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. SouthState Bank Corporation has a 12 month low of $84.47 and a 12 month high of $108.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.12 and a beta of 0.70.

SouthState Bank (NYSE:SSB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $661.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.28 million. SouthState Bank had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 24.75%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that SouthState Bank Corporation will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

SouthState Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. SouthState Bank's payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David R. Brooks sold 14,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.39, for a total transaction of $1,406,977.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,249,553. This represents a 52.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

SouthState Bank Company Profile

SouthState Bank NYSE: SSB is a bank holding company headquartered in Winter Haven, Florida, that provides a range of commercial and retail banking services. Through its subsidiary, SouthState Bank, the company serves businesses, institutions and individuals with deposit, lending and treasury management solutions. Its core business lines include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate lending, consumer mortgages and home equity loans.

In addition to traditional lending and deposit products, SouthState Bank offers specialized services such as treasury and cash management, merchant services, payment solutions and online banking.

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