Vident Advisory LLC Takes Position in SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC acquired 2,897 shares of SouthState Co. valued at approximately $269,000 in the 1st quarter, reflecting growing institutional interest with over 89% of stock owned by institutional investors.
• SouthState has recently seen a series of positive rating adjustments from analysts, with Citigroup and DA Davidson setting target prices at $117.00, indicating strong buy sentiments among experts.
• The bank announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.60 per share, a rise from its previous dividend of $0.54, showcasing a healthy return on investment for shareholders.

Vident Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,897 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 153.6% in 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 raised its holdings in SouthState by 68.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,172 shares of the bank's stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in SouthState by 5.0% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,093,176 shares of the bank's stock worth $100,856,000 after acquiring an additional 51,933 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in SouthState by 32.1% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 11,492 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in SouthState by 25.4% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 15,427 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,432,000 after acquiring an additional 3,127 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Hovde Group upped 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on SouthState in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson upped their target price on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Barclays upped their target price on SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 target price (up previously from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a report on Monday, July 28th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $115.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at SouthState

In other SouthState news, Director Janet P. Froetscher bought 3,338 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $97.31 per share, with a total value of $324,820.78. Following 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, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 8,338 shares of company stock valued at $786,321. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

SouthState Price Performance

Shares of SSB stock traded down $0.44 during trading on Monday, hitting $100.81. The company had a trading volume of 524,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 910,067. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.48 and a beta of 0.74. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $97.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.35. SouthState Co. has a one year low of $77.74 and a one year 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. The business had revenue of $840.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 previous year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. SouthState's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.