SouthState Co. $SSB Holdings Boosted by FJ Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• FJ Capital Management LLC increased its stake in SouthState Co. by 286.3% during the first quarter, owning 556,226 shares valued at approximately $51.6 million, making it the second largest position in their portfolio.
• SouthState recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.60 per share, up from $0.54, representing an annualized yield of 2.4%.
• The bank reported earnings of $2.30 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.98, with a total revenue of $840.5 million.

FJ Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 286.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 556,226 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 412,242 shares during the period. SouthState comprises about 5.3% of FJ Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. FJ Capital Management LLC owned about 0.55% of SouthState worth $51,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on SSB. Barclays increased 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. DA Davidson increased their target price on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group increased their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of SouthState in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SouthState has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total transaction of $498,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,785 shares of the company's stock, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director G Stacy Smith bought 2,500 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $92.30 per share, for a total transaction of $230,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 39,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,650,095.80. This trade represents a 6.75% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 8,338 shares of company stock valued at $786,321 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

SouthState Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ SSB traded down $0.53 during trading on Friday, hitting $103.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,362,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 921,122. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 0.74. SouthState Co. has a one year low of $77.74 and a one year high of $114.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.40.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $840.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.12 million. SouthState had a net margin of 22.38% and a return on equity of 9.62%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This is an increase from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. SouthState's 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.