SouthState Co. $SSB Shares Acquired by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in SouthState Co. by 3.2%, now owning 103,865 shares valued at approximately $9.64 million.
• SouthState Co. declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, up from its previous dividend of $0.54, reflecting a positive adjustment in its shareholder returns.
• The company's stock has a current market capitalization of $10.32 billion and reported earnings of $2.30 per share in its last quarterly earnings, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 103,865 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 3,267 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned 0.10% of SouthState worth $9,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in SouthState by 14.2% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 943 shares of the bank's stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of SouthState by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,368 shares of the bank's stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of SouthState by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,547 shares of the bank's stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of SouthState by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the bank's stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Liberty One Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of SouthState by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 8,222 shares of the bank's stock worth $763,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 price target (up previously from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of SouthState in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $106.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on SouthState in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, SouthState has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.27.

SouthState Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of SSB stock traded up $0.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $102.04. 564,907 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 919,112. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $95.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.33. SouthState Co. has a 52-week low of $77.74 and a 52-week high of $114.26.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.32. The firm 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. SouthState's payout ratio is presently 35.77%.

Insider Activity at SouthState

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

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.