SouthState Co. $SSB Shares Bought by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

Key Points

• State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in SouthState Co. by 20.5%, owning 30,059 shares worth approximately $2.79 million after buying an additional 5,121 shares in Q1.
• SouthState recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.60 per share from $0.54, yielding approximately 2.5% and reflecting a payout ratio of 35.77%.
• SouthState reported better-than-expected earnings of $2.30 per share, surpassing analysts' consensus estimates by $0.32, with revenue significantly exceeding forecasts at $840.50 million for the quarter.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 20.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,059 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 5,121 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in SouthState were worth $2,790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $1,028,406,000 after acquiring an additional 2,637,786 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings 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 worth $422,915,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164,348 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $164,249,000 after acquiring an additional 222,818 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $133,407,000 after acquiring an additional 397,371 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of SouthState by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,111,758 shares of the bank's stock worth $110,598,000 after acquiring an additional 95,841 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Janet P. Froetscher purchased 3,338 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $97.31 per share, for a total transaction of $324,820.78. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director G Stacy Smith purchased 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were purchased 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 directly owned 39,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,650,095.80. The trade was a 6.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 8,338 shares of company stock valued at $786,321 over the last 90 days. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

SouthState Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SSB opened at $96.5970 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.78 billion, a PE ratio of 13.88 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $93.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.67. SouthState Co. has a 12 month low of $77.74 and a 12 month high of $114.26.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $840.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a boost from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. SouthState's payout ratio is currently 35.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SSB. DA Davidson boosted their price target on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on SouthState in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $119.00 target price on shares of SouthState in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on SouthState in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $106.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target 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.

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