SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) Shares Acquired by XTX Topco Ltd

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 82.2% during the 1st quarter, now owning 28,790 shares valued at approximately $2.67 million.
• SouthState announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, up from $0.54, representing a 2.47% dividend yield.
• Analysts have a consensus "Buy" rating for SouthState, with target prices ranging from $105.00 to $120.00, reflecting positive sentiment about the stock's growth potential.

XTX Topco Ltd increased its position in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 82.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,790 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 12,990 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in SouthState were worth $2,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SSB. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in SouthState by 2,221.8% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 727,341 shares of the bank's stock valued at $72,356,000 after acquiring an additional 696,014 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in SouthState in the fourth quarter valued at $67,260,000. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in SouthState in the fourth quarter valued at $60,311,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in SouthState by 51.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 618,913 shares of the bank's stock valued at $61,569,000 after acquiring an additional 210,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in SouthState by 14.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 964,089 shares of the bank's stock valued at $89,487,000 after acquiring an additional 121,591 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Hovde Group increased their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of SouthState in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of SouthState in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $106.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $115.27.

SouthState Trading Down 1.6%

NASDAQ SSB traded down $1.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $92.67. 1,113,382 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 949,530. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $9.41 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.77. SouthState Co. has a 1-year low of $77.74 and a 1-year high of $114.26. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $92.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.37.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $840.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 posted $1.74 EPS. On average, research 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 will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 35.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Janet P. Froetscher acquired 3,338 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $97.31 per share, with a total value of $324,820.78. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,089.14. The trade was a 67.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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.