T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stake in SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in SouthState Co. by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, now owning approximately 3.43% of the company valued at about $322.9 million.
• SouthState reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.30 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates of $1.98, along with a revenue of $840.50 million.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, marking an increase from the previous dividend of $0.54, with an annualized yield of 2.5%.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,479,298 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 11,728 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 3.43% of SouthState worth $322,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of SouthState by 153.6% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 10,229 shares of the bank's stock valued at $949,000 after acquiring an additional 6,196 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of SouthState by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 773,843 shares of the bank's stock valued at $76,982,000 after acquiring an additional 42,041 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of SouthState by 68.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,172 shares of the bank's stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of SouthState by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,093,176 shares of the bank's stock valued at $100,856,000 after acquiring an additional 51,933 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its position in shares of SouthState by 32.1% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 11,492 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SSB has been the subject of a number of research reports. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group increased their target price on shares of SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial set a $110.00 price objective on shares of SouthState in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two investment 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SouthState has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $115.27.

SouthState Stock Performance

NASDAQ SSB opened at $96.5970 on Thursday. 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.78 billion, a PE ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 0.79. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $93.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.67.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. 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 analysts' expectations of $645.12 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.74 EPS. Analysts predict that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This is a boost from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. SouthState's dividend payout ratio is 35.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SouthState news, Director Janet P. Froetscher bought 3,338 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $97.31 per share, for a total transaction of $324,820.78. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,294 shares in the company, valued at $807,089.14. This trade represents a 67.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director G Stacy Smith acquired 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $92.30 per share, for a total transaction of $230,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly 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. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 8,338 shares of company stock worth $786,321. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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