MetLife Investment Management LLC Acquires 128,640 Shares of SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in SouthState Co. by 147.1% in the first quarter, owning 0.21% of the company worth approximately $20 million.
• SouthState recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, marking an increase from the previous $0.54, with a current dividend yield of 2.4%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Buy" for SouthState, with a target price averaging $115.27, reflecting positive growth expectations.

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 147.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 216,085 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 128,640 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.21% of SouthState worth $20,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 5.1% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 68,325 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,342,000 after purchasing an additional 3,331 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 1,103.4% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 698 shares of the bank's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 14.6% during the first quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 3,181 shares of the bank's stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 0.3% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,479,298 shares of the bank's stock valued at $322,949,000 after purchasing an additional 11,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new position in shares of SouthState during the first quarter valued at approximately $67,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SouthState Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ SSB traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $102.04. The stock had a trading volume of 564,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 919,112. SouthState Co. has a 1 year low of $77.74 and a 1 year high of $114.26. The stock has a market cap of $10.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $95.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.33. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.32. SouthState had a net margin of 22.38% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The business had revenue of $840.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.60 dividend. This is a boost 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 payout ratio is presently 35.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director G Stacy Smith bought 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $92.30 per share, with a total value of $230,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 39,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,650,095.80. This trade represents a 6.75% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 5,000 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total transaction of $498,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,165,786. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 8,338 shares of company stock valued at $786,321. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SSB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of SouthState in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $106.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SouthState 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.