Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 29.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 227,555 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 52,380 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of SouthState worth $21,122,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SSB. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SouthState by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,913,615 shares of the bank's stock valued at $192,531,000 after acquiring an additional 93,312 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of SouthState by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,111,758 shares of the bank's stock worth $110,598,000 after purchasing an additional 95,841 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of SouthState by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,093,176 shares of the bank's stock worth $100,856,000 after purchasing an additional 51,933 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in SouthState by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 773,843 shares of the bank's stock valued at $76,982,000 after acquiring an additional 42,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in SouthState by 2,221.8% in the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 727,341 shares of the bank's stock valued at $72,356,000 after acquiring an additional 696,014 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SSB shares. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of SouthState in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $106.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of SouthState in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $119.00 target price on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of SouthState from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $116.45.

SouthState Stock Performance

Shares of SSB stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $97.73. 624,386 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 748,299. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. SouthState Co. has a 52-week low of $75.69 and a 52-week high of $114.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04 and a beta of 0.77.

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. SouthState's payout ratio is currently 34.12%.

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.