Royal Bank of Canada Acquires 77,387 Shares of SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in SouthState Co. by 112.2%, acquiring an additional 77,387 shares to reach a total of 146,382 shares valued at approximately $13.59 million.
• SouthState recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.60 per share, up from $0.54, reflecting a 2.4% dividend yield and a payout ratio of 35.77%.
• Several analysts have upgraded SouthState's stock ratings, with Citigroup setting a new target price of $117.00 and Barclays raising theirs to $120.00, indicating a strong market interest in the company's performance.

Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 112.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 146,382 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 77,387 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.14% of SouthState worth $13,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of SouthState by 31.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,079,578 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,028,406,000 after acquiring an additional 2,637,786 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted 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 acquiring an additional 1,164,348 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 11,728 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 222,818 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 397,371 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 5,000 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,165,786. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director G Stacy Smith bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the purchase, the director owned 39,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,650,095.80. This represents a 6.75% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 8,338 shares of company stock worth $786,321. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on SSB. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group raised their target price on SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. 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 for the company. Barclays raised their target price on SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $115.27.

SouthState Stock Performance

SouthState stock opened at $101.34 on Thursday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $97.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.41. SouthState Co. has a 52-week low of $77.74 and a 52-week high of $114.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 0.74.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. SouthState had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 22.38%.The firm had revenue of $840.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $645.12 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. SouthState's dividend payout ratio is 35.77%.

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.

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