Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC Makes New $417,000 Investment in SouthState Co. $SSB

Key Points

• Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC invested approximately $417,000 in SouthState Co. by acquiring 4,489 shares during the first quarter.
• SouthState announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60, raising its annualized dividend yield to 2.4%, an increase from the previous quarterly dividend of $0.54.
• Analysts have mixed views on SouthState, with target price adjustments ranging from $106 to $120, and a consensus rating of "Buy."

Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,489 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $417,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in SouthState by 31.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,079,578 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,028,406,000 after acquiring an additional 2,637,786 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in SouthState by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,556,410 shares of the bank's stock worth $422,915,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164,348 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in SouthState by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,479,298 shares of the bank's stock worth $322,949,000 after acquiring an additional 11,728 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in SouthState by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,769,537 shares of the bank's stock worth $164,249,000 after acquiring an additional 222,818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in SouthState by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,437,262 shares of the bank's stock worth $133,407,000 after acquiring an additional 397,371 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

SouthState Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ SSB traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $102.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 564,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 919,112. The stock has a market cap of $10.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. SouthState Co. has a one year low of $77.74 and a one year high of $114.26. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $95.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.41.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $840.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $645.12 million. SouthState had a net margin of 22.38% and a return on equity of 9.62%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. SouthState's dividend payout ratio is 35.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SSB shares. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of SouthState in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $106.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of SouthState in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and set a $117.00 price objective (up previously from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a report on Monday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $115.27.

Insider Activity at SouthState

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

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.