Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 191,300 shares of the bank's stock after selling 29,050 shares during the quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned about 0.25% of SouthState worth $16,155,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SSB. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of SouthState by 44.5% in the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 50,684 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,413,000 after purchasing an additional 15,599 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of SouthState in the third quarter worth $424,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of SouthState by 112.5% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 143,844 shares of the bank's stock worth $9,689,000 after buying an additional 76,153 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of SouthState by 5.4% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 286,177 shares of the bank's stock worth $19,277,000 after buying an additional 14,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of SouthState by 80.4% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,431 shares of the bank's stock worth $965,000 after buying an additional 5,095 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SouthState Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SSB traded up $1.13 on Monday, reaching $82.52. 321,622 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 408,944. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $82.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.91. SouthState Co. has a 52 week low of $59.51 and a 52 week high of $87.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.13. SouthState had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 22.15%. The firm had revenue of $419.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $419.08 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that SouthState Co. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. SouthState's payout ratio is presently 32.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SSB shares. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 price objective (up previously from $96.00) on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Stephens began coverage on SouthState in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $78.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James downgraded SouthState from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. UBS Group raised their price target on SouthState from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on SouthState from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $87.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Richard Iv Murray sold 4,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.85, for a total value of $401,065.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 58,968 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,826,530.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, President Richard Iv Murray sold 4,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.85, for a total value of $401,065.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 58,968 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,826,530.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $243,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,902,068. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,925 shares of company stock valued at $988,686 over the last ninety days. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.