6,506 Shares in SouthState Co. $SSB Bought by Fox Run Management L.L.C.

Key Points

• Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in SouthState Co., purchasing 6,506 shares valued at approximately $604,000 in the first quarter.
• Insider activity shows Director Janet P. Froetscher bought 3,338 shares for $324,820, increasing her ownership by 67.35%.
• Analysts have set varying price targets for SouthState, with Barclays raising its target to $120.00, while the average consensus price target is $115.27.

Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,506 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $604,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of SouthState by 153.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 10,229 shares of the bank's stock valued at $949,000 after buying an additional 6,196 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of SouthState by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 773,843 shares of the bank's stock valued at $76,982,000 after purchasing an additional 42,041 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of SouthState by 68.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,172 shares of the bank's stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of SouthState by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,093,176 shares of the bank's stock valued at $100,856,000 after purchasing an additional 51,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in SouthState by 32.1% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 11,492 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of 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 report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $106.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of SouthState in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $110.00 price objective on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SouthState has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $115.27.

SouthState Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SSB traded up $0.2470 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $96.5970. The stock had a trading volume of 575,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 931,359. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.65. SouthState Co. has a 52 week low of $77.74 and a 52 week high of $114.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $840.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $645.12 million. SouthState had a net margin of 22.38% and a return on equity of 9.62%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.74 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director G Stacy Smith purchased 2,500 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $92.30 per share, with a total value of $230,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 39,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,650,095.80. This trade represents a 6.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher acquired 3,338 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $97.31 per share, with a total value of $324,820.78. Following the purchase, the director owned 8,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,089.14. This represents a 67.35% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 8,338 shares of company stock worth $786,321 over the last ninety days. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.