SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) Shares Sold by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 41.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,504 shares of the bank's stock after selling 5,347 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in SouthState were worth $697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SSB. CFO4Life Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of SouthState in the first quarter valued at about $493,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of SouthState by 5.2% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,368 shares of the bank's stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its position in shares of SouthState by 29.0% in the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 20,000 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,856,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in shares of SouthState by 9.3% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 16,784 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,558,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424 shares during the period. Finally, Liberty One Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of SouthState by 2.3% in the first quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 8,222 shares of the bank's stock valued at $763,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SouthState Stock Performance

Shares of SouthState stock traded up $0.63 during trading on Friday, hitting $98.53. 2,018,645 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 945,762. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $77.74 and a 1 year high of $114.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.34.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $840.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $645.12 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. This is an increase from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. SouthState's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SSB shares. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of SouthState from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Raymond James Financial set a $110.00 price objective on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $119.00 target price on shares of SouthState in a report on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.82.

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.