Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Position in SouthState Bank Corporation $SSB

Key Points

• Franklin Resources trimmed its stake in SouthState Bank by 9.3% in Q3, selling 164,017 shares and ending the quarter with 1,607,941 shares (about 1.60% of the company) valued at roughly $159 million.
• Several analysts raised ratings and price targets around late January—including TD Cowen, Barclays, Stephens and Citigroup—lifting consensus sentiment to a "Buy" with an average target near $118.71.
• SouthState recently beat Q4 estimates with $2.47 EPS (vs. $2.30 expected) and $686.9M revenue, and it pays a quarterly dividend of $0.60 (annualized $2.40, ~2.7% yield).

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its stake in SouthState Bank Corporation (NYSE:SSB - Free Report) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,607,941 shares of the company's stock after selling 164,017 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.60% of SouthState Bank worth $158,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SSB. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in SouthState Bank during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in SouthState Bank in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of SouthState Bank by 106.8% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 364 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in shares of SouthState Bank by 37,700.0% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 378 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of SouthState Bank by 385.1% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 490 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SSB shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of SouthState Bank from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of SouthState Bank from $122.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Stephens increased their price target on SouthState Bank from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on SouthState Bank from $116.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised SouthState Bank from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $118.71.

SouthState Bank Stock Performance

NYSE:SSB opened at $90.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.73. The firm's 50 day moving average is $100.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.87. SouthState Bank Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $77.74 and a fifty-two week high of $108.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

SouthState Bank (NYSE:SSB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $686.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $667.88 million. SouthState Bank had a net margin of 21.26% and a return on equity of 10.86%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.93 EPS.

SouthState Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. SouthState Bank's payout ratio is 30.53%.

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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