Strs Ohio Makes New Investment in SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has invested approximately $8.8 million in SouthState Co. by acquiring 94,756 shares in the first quarter, representing a 0.09% ownership of the bank.
• Analysts have adjusted target prices for SouthState, with Barclays and DA Davidson raising theirs to $120.00 and $117.00 respectively, reflecting a positive outlook on the stock.
• SouthState recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.54 to $0.60 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.40 and a yield of 2.4%.

Strs Ohio bought a new position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 94,756 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $8,795,000. Strs Ohio owned about 0.09% of SouthState at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in SouthState in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SouthState in the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of SouthState by 577.4% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 569 shares of the bank's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of SouthState by 181.7% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 586 shares of the bank's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of SouthState by 81.5% in the 1st quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 688 shares of the bank's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SSB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of SouthState in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 price target (up from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $115.27.

SouthState Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ SSB opened at $101.31 on Friday. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $97.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.39. SouthState Co. has a 12 month low of $77.74 and a 12 month high of $114.26. The company has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 0.74.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.32. SouthState had a net margin of 22.38% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The business had revenue of $840.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.12 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is an increase from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. SouthState's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 5,000 shares of the business'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 sale, the insider owned 31,785 shares in the company, valued at $3,165,786. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher purchased 3,338 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $97.31 per share, for a total transaction of $324,820.78. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $807,089.14. This trade represents a 67.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 8,338 shares of company stock worth $786,321 over the last 90 days. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About SouthState

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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