Sciencast Management LP Buys New Stake in SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• Sciencast Management LP invested $306,000 in SouthState Co. by purchasing 3,300 shares, as revealed in its recent Form 13F filing.
• Institutional investors hold approximately 89.76% of SouthState's stock, with Vanguard Group increasing its stake by 31.2% to about $1.03 billion.
• SouthState recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.60 per share, yielding 2.4%, a notable increase from the previous $0.54 dividend.

Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,300 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of SouthState by 23.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,153,842 shares of the bank's stock valued at $107,100,000 after buying an additional 216,894 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new position in SouthState in the first quarter valued at $34,238,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in SouthState in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in SouthState by 98.5% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 283,875 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,349,000 after purchasing an additional 140,850 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in SouthState by 34.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 58,256 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,407,000 after purchasing an additional 14,979 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Janet P. Froetscher bought 3,338 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $97.31 per share, with a total value of $324,820.78. Following the purchase, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director G Stacy Smith bought 2,500 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 $3,650,095.80. This represents a 6.75% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 8,338 shares of company stock worth $786,321 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

SouthState Stock Performance

Shares of SSB stock traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $101.41. 96,534 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 907,514. The company has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 0.74. The company's 50 day moving average is $97.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.35. SouthState Co. has a 1 year low of $77.74 and a 1 year high of $114.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $840.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 business posted $1.74 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. SouthState's payout ratio is currently 35.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson lifted their target price on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed 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. 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Two equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $115.27.

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.