Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in SouthState Co. by 31.2% during Q1, now owning approximately 10.93% of the bank, totaling over $1 billion in value.
• SouthState declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, up from its previous dividend of $0.54, with a dividend yield of 2.6%.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for SouthState, with an average target now at $115.27 and a consensus rating of "Buy."

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 31.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,079,578 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 2,637,786 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.93% of SouthState worth $1,028,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SSB. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in SouthState by 36.2% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 990,535 shares of the bank's stock worth $91,941,000 after buying an additional 263,194 shares in the last quarter. Sfmg LLC grew its holdings in SouthState by 27.8% during the first quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 9,842 shares of the bank's stock worth $914,000 after buying an additional 2,142 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in SouthState by 209.1% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,887 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,382,000 after buying an additional 10,070 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in SouthState during the first quarter worth $283,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in SouthState by 81.1% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,301 shares of the bank's stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 3,269 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other SouthState news, Director Janet P. Froetscher bought 3,338 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $97.31 per share, with a total value of $324,820.78. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 8,294 shares in the company, valued at $807,089.14. This trade represents a 67.35% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director G Stacy Smith acquired 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $92.30 per share, with a total value of $230,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 39,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,650,095.80. This trade represents a 6.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 8,338 shares of company stock worth $786,321 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on SSB shares. Truist Financial started coverage on SouthState in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $106.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 price target (up from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a report on Monday, July 28th. Barclays lifted their price target on SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on SouthState in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, SouthState presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $115.27.

SouthState Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ SSB traded up $2.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $97.71. The stock had a trading volume of 623,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 941,424. 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 1 year low of $77.74 and a 1 year high of $114.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $93.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.02. The firm has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.04 and a beta of 0.79.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 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 company 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 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. SouthState's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.