Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Raises Stock Holdings in SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in SouthState Co. by 204.4%, owning 46,705 shares valued at $4.3 million as of the end of the most recent quarter.
• Insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 5,000 shares of SouthState for $498,000, reducing his ownership by 13.59%, while another director, Janet P. Froetscher, increased her stake by purchasing 3,338 shares.
• SouthState recently declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.60 per share, raising its annualized dividend yield to 2.4%.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 204.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,705 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 31,360 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in SouthState were worth $4,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in SouthState by 14.0% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,090 shares of the bank's stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management increased its stake in SouthState by 2.3% in the second quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 6,345 shares of the bank's stock valued at $584,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in SouthState by 56.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,829 shares of the bank's stock valued at $168,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in SouthState by 14.2% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 54,881 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,051,000 after purchasing an additional 6,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its stake in SouthState by 5.3% in the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 12,102 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on SSB shares. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research note on Monday, July 28th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on SouthState in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $127.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson boosted their price objective 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. National Bankshares set a $127.00 price objective on shares of SouthState in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $117.08.

Insider Activity at SouthState

In related news, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total value of $498,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 31,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,165,786. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher purchased 3,338 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $97.31 per share, with a total value of $324,820.78. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $807,089.14. The trade was a 67.35% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 8,338 shares of company stock valued at $786,321. Insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

SouthState Price Performance

SSB stock opened at $99.35 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. SouthState Co. has a 1 year low of $77.74 and a 1 year high of $114.26. The firm has a market cap of $10.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.91.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.32. SouthState had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 22.38%.The business had revenue of $840.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $645.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This is an increase from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. SouthState's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.77%.

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.

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