NFJ Investment Group LLC Sells 20,155 Shares of SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• NFJ Investment Group LLC has reduced its position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 39.3% in the first quarter, after selling over 20,000 shares, which leaves its holdings valued at approximately $2.89 million.
• Despite NFJ's divestment, other institutional investors significantly increased their stakes, including a 577.4% increase by Versant Capital Management Inc in the same period.
• SouthState recently reported impressive quarterly earnings, with $2.30 earnings per share, exceeding estimates and prompting several analysts to raise their price targets for the stock, maintaining a consensus rating of "Buy".

NFJ Investment Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 39.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,144 shares of the bank's stock after selling 20,155 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC's holdings in SouthState were worth $2,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SSB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in SouthState by 31.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,079,578 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,028,406,000 after buying an additional 2,637,786 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of SouthState by 34.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,556,410 shares of the bank's stock valued at $422,915,000 after buying an additional 1,164,348 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of SouthState by 0.3% in 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 buying an additional 11,728 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of SouthState by 14.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,769,537 shares of the bank's stock valued at $164,249,000 after buying an additional 222,818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of SouthState by 38.2% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,437,262 shares of the bank's stock valued at $133,407,000 after buying an additional 397,371 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SSB. Hovde Group raised their price objective on SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Truist Financial began coverage on SouthState in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $106.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson lifted their price target on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 price target (up from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on SouthState in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has 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 a consensus target price of $115.27.

Insider Activity

In other SouthState news, Director G Stacy Smith purchased 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $92.30 per share, for a total transaction of $230,750.00. Following the purchase, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total value of $498,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 31,785 shares in the company, valued at $3,165,786. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 8,338 shares of company stock worth $786,321. Insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

SouthState Price Performance

Shares of SSB traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $101.34. 501,527 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 915,627. The company has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 0.74. SouthState Co. has a fifty-two week low of $77.74 and a fifty-two week high of $114.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm's fifty day moving average is $97.52 and its 200 day moving average is $92.35.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 22.38%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. SouthState's dividend payout ratio is 35.77%.

SouthState Company 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.