Kennedy Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in SouthState Bank Corporation $SSB

Key Points

• Kennedy Capital Management increased its SouthState Bank stake by 8% in the fourth quarter, adding 15,152 shares and bringing its holding to 205,551 shares valued at about $19.3 million.
• SouthState Bank reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $2.28 per share, topping analyst estimates, while revenue came in slightly below forecasts.
• The bank continues to attract mostly bullish sentiment from analysts, with an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $118.62, even as some firms adjusted their targets modestly.

Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its stake in SouthState Bank Corporation (NYSE:SSB - Free Report) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 205,551 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 15,152 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.20% of SouthState Bank worth $19,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. UMB Bank n.a. acquired a new position in shares of SouthState Bank in the 4th quarter valued at $155,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of SouthState Bank by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 78,452 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,383,000 after purchasing an additional 5,088 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in shares of SouthState Bank in the 4th quarter valued at $4,939,000. Martin & Co. Inc. TN lifted its stake in shares of SouthState Bank by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Martin & Co. Inc. TN now owns 39,113 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group acquired a new position in shares of SouthState Bank in the 4th quarter valued at $43,631,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David R. Brooks sold 14,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.39, for a total value of $1,406,977.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SouthState Bank Trading Up 1.3%

SSB opened at $98.75 on Friday. SouthState Bank Corporation has a one year low of $84.47 and a one year high of $108.46. The company has a market cap of $9.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.65 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $95.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.41.

SouthState Bank (NYSE:SSB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.07. SouthState Bank had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 24.75%.The business had revenue of $661.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that SouthState Bank Corporation will post 9.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. SouthState Bank's dividend payout ratio is 25.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SSB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on SouthState Bank from $110.00 to $108.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on SouthState Bank from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on SouthState Bank from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays cut their price objective on SouthState Bank from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded SouthState Bank from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $118.62.

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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