UBS Group AG Raises Stake in SouthState Bank Corporation $SSB

Key Points

• UBS Group AG boosted its stake in SouthState Bank by 23.5% in Q4 to 568,441 shares (about 0.57% ownership, ~$53.5M), while other large institutions like Vanguard, Dimensional, Invesco and AQR also increased positions, leaving institutional ownership at 89.76%.
• Director David R. Brooks sold 14,300 shares on April 28 for roughly $1.41M, reducing his holding by 52.96%; insiders now own 1.70% of the company.
• Wall Street consensus is a Buy with an average target of $118.23; SouthState recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($2.28 vs. $2.21) and announced a $0.60 quarterly dividend (2.5% yield).

UBS Group AG boosted its position in SouthState Bank Corporation (NYSE:SSB - Free Report) by 23.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 568,441 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 108,192 shares during the period. UBS Group AG owned approximately 0.57% of SouthState Bank worth $53,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SSB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SouthState Bank by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,937,359 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,029,315,000 after acquiring an additional 161,928 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of SouthState Bank by 1.9% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,666,617 shares of the company's stock valued at $461,392,000 after buying an additional 84,812 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of SouthState Bank by 35.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,591,034 shares of the company's stock valued at $157,306,000 after buying an additional 418,031 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of SouthState Bank by 269.4% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,219,079 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,530,000 after buying an additional 889,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of SouthState Bank by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,155,073 shares of the company's stock valued at $108,843,000 after buying an additional 35,184 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at SouthState Bank

In related news, Director David R. Brooks sold 14,300 shares of SouthState Bank stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.39, for a total transaction of $1,406,977.00. Following the sale, the director owned 12,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,249,553. The trade was a 52.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of SouthState Bank from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of SouthState Bank from $110.00 to $108.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of SouthState Bank from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of SouthState Bank from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of SouthState Bank from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $118.23.

SouthState Bank Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of SouthState Bank stock opened at $97.41 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market cap of $9.51 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51 and a beta of 0.72. SouthState Bank Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $84.47 and a fifty-two week high of $108.46. The business's fifty day moving average is $95.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.38.

SouthState Bank (NYSE:SSB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $661.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.29 million. SouthState Bank had a net margin of 24.75% and a return on equity of 10.81%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that SouthState Bank Corporation will post 9.46 earnings per share for the current year.

SouthState Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. SouthState Bank's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.89%.

SouthState Bank Profile

SouthState Bank NYSE: SSB is a bank holding company headquartered in Winter Haven, Florida, that provides a range of commercial and retail banking services. Through its subsidiary, SouthState Bank, the company serves businesses, institutions and individuals with deposit, lending and treasury management solutions. Its core business lines include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate lending, consumer mortgages and home equity loans.

In addition to traditional lending and deposit products, SouthState Bank offers specialized services such as treasury and cash management, merchant services, payment solutions and online banking.

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