Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Boosts Stake in SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in SouthState Co. by 23.1%, owning a total of 1,153,842 shares valued at approximately $107.1 million as of the first quarter.
• SouthState recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, up from the previous dividend of $0.54, representing an annual yield of 2.4%.
• The company's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.30, exceeding analysts' expectations by $0.32, and a revenue of $840.5 million, surpassing consensus estimates.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 23.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,153,842 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 216,894 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 1.14% of SouthState worth $107,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of SouthState by 14.2% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 943 shares of the bank's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of SouthState by 5.2% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,368 shares of the bank's stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of SouthState by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,547 shares of the bank's stock valued at $253,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of SouthState by 5.7% in the first quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the bank's stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Liberty One Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of SouthState by 2.3% in the first quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 8,222 shares of the bank's stock valued at $763,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SouthState news, Director G Stacy Smith purchased 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was bought 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,650,095.80. This represents a 6.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher purchased 3,338 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $97.31 per share, with a total value of $324,820.78. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,294 shares in the company, valued at $807,089.14. The trade was a 67.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 8,338 shares of company stock valued at $786,321 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

SouthState Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ SSB opened at $101.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $97.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.44. SouthState Co. has a 1 year low of $77.74 and a 1 year high of $114.26.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $840.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.12 million. SouthState had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 22.38%.During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.74 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. SouthState's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SSB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Barclays lifted their price objective on SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on SouthState in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Two investment 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $115.27.

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.

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