Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 7,611 Shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank increased its holdings of SouthState Co. by 38.3% in the first quarter, now owning a total of 27,464 shares valued at approximately $2,549,000.
• SouthState reported $2.30 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and representing a net margin of 22.38% along with a revenue of $840.50 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share, reflecting an increase from its previous dividend, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.6%.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 38.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,464 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 7,611 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in SouthState were worth $2,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in SouthState by 51.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 618,913 shares of the bank's stock worth $61,569,000 after purchasing an additional 210,019 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in SouthState during the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,260,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in SouthState by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 11,759 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in SouthState by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 207,705 shares of the bank's stock worth $20,662,000 after purchasing an additional 44,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 93,312 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SSB shares. Barclays upped their price objective 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. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of SouthState in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $106.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $110.00 price target on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.27.

SouthState Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of SSB traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $93.19. 254,554 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 943,253. SouthState Co. has a fifty-two week low of $77.74 and a fifty-two week high of $114.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $92.60 and a 200-day moving average of $93.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 0.79.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $645.12 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

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

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.