UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Has $32.06 Million Position in SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in SouthState Co. by 25.6%, acquiring an additional 70,378 shares during the first quarter, bringing their total ownership to 345,405 shares valued at approximately $32 million.
• In related news, insider transactions included Director Janet P. Froetscher purchasing 3,338 shares and Director G Stacy Smith acquiring 2,500 shares, indicating growing confidence among company leadership.
• Analysts have raised price targets for SouthState, with Citigroup raising its target to $117.00 and Barclays to $120.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Buy" for the stock.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 25.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 345,405 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 70,378 shares during the quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned 0.34% of SouthState worth $32,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SSB. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in SouthState during the 1st quarter valued at $590,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in SouthState in the first quarter worth $216,000. Sciencast Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of SouthState in the first quarter worth $306,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 23.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,153,842 shares of the bank's stock valued at $107,100,000 after purchasing an additional 216,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new position in SouthState in the first quarter valued at about $34,238,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Janet P. Froetscher acquired 3,338 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $97.31 per share, for a total transaction of $324,820.78. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 8,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $807,089.14. This trade represents a 67.35% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total value of $498,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,165,786. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 8,338 shares of company stock worth $786,321. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SSB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their price target on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed 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. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price target on SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $115.27.

SouthState Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ SSB traded down $1.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $101.55. The stock had a trading volume of 1,932,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 912,429. The company has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 0.74. 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $98.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.53. SouthState Co. has a fifty-two week low of $77.74 and a fifty-two week high of $114.26.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $840.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $645.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. SouthState's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.