Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Buys 263,194 Shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in SouthState Co. by 36.2%, acquiring an additional 263,194 shares, bringing its total ownership to 990,535 shares, valued at approximately $91,941,000.
• SouthState recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, up from its previous $0.54, translating to an annualized yield of 2.6%.
• Following recent earnings results, analysts have varied target prices for SouthState, with Citigroup raising its target to $117.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 36.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 990,535 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 263,194 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 0.98% of SouthState worth $91,941,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of SouthState by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,913,615 shares of the bank's stock worth $192,531,000 after acquiring an additional 93,312 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in SouthState by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,111,758 shares of the bank's stock valued at $110,598,000 after buying an additional 95,841 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of SouthState by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,093,176 shares of the bank's stock worth $100,856,000 after purchasing an additional 51,933 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of SouthState by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 964,089 shares of the bank's stock worth $89,487,000 after purchasing an additional 121,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of SouthState by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 773,843 shares of the bank's stock worth $76,982,000 after purchasing an additional 42,041 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at SouthState

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

SouthState Stock Performance

Shares of SSB traded down $1.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $93.07. The stock had a trading volume of 643,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 946,077. The firm has a market cap of $9.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $92.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.25. 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 52 week low of $77.74 and a 52 week high of $114.26.

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 firm had revenue of $840.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This is a boost from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. SouthState's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SSB has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James Financial set a $110.00 target price on SouthState in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on SouthState in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Hovde Group raised their price objective on SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.27.

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.