LPL Financial LLC Buys 7,975 Shares of SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in SouthState Co. by 45.1%, acquiring an additional 7,975 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to $2,382,000.
• In a recent transaction, Director Janet P. Froetscher purchased 3,338 shares, increasing her stake by 67.35%, while Director G Stacy Smith also added 2,500 shares, raising his ownership by 6.75%.
• SouthState Co. announced a dividend increase to $0.60 per share, up from $0.54, representing a yield of 2.5% and a payout ratio of 35.77%.

LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 45.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,664 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 7,975 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in SouthState were worth $2,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of SouthState during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of SouthState by 577.4% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 569 shares of the bank's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of SouthState by 181.7% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 586 shares of the bank's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Collier Financial bought a new stake in shares of SouthState during the first quarter worth approximately $69,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of SouthState by 14.2% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 943 shares of the bank's stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at SouthState

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

SouthState Price Performance

Shares of SSB opened at $95.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 0.79. The company's 50-day moving average is $93.70 and its 200-day moving average is $92.62. SouthState Co. has a fifty-two week low of $77.74 and a fifty-two week high of $114.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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

SouthState Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a positive change from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. SouthState's payout ratio is 35.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of SouthState in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $106.00 target price for the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 target price (up previously from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SouthState presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.27.

SouthState Profile

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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