UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Purchases 70,378 Shares of 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 grew its holdings in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 25.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 345,405 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 70,378 shares during the period. 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 SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of SouthState by 44.5% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 300,047 shares of the bank's stock valued at $27,850,000 after purchasing an additional 92,342 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of SouthState by 153.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 10,229 shares of the bank's stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,196 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of SouthState by 68.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,172 shares of the bank's stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of SouthState by 5.0% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,093,176 shares of the bank's stock valued at $100,856,000 after purchasing an additional 51,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of SouthState by 32.1% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 11,492 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at SouthState

In other news, Director G Stacy Smith bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $92.30 per share, with a total value of $230,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 39,546 shares in the company, valued at $3,650,095.80. The trade was a 6.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total value of $498,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,785 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,165,786. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 8,338 shares of company stock valued at $786,321. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

SouthState Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SSB traded up $2.31 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $103.53. 638,785 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 906,701. The company has a market cap of $10.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87 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. SouthState Co. has a one year low of $77.74 and a one year high of $114.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $98.05 and a 200 day moving average of $92.46.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $840.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This is a positive change from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. SouthState's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a report on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group boosted their target price on SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on SouthState in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, SouthState has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price 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.