21,400 Shares in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 21,400 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,807,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SSB. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of SouthState by 65.4% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,927,017 shares of the bank's stock worth $636,139,000 after purchasing an additional 3,528,828 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of SouthState by 166.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,017,648 shares of the bank's stock valued at $143,778,000 after buying an additional 1,260,884 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of SouthState by 666.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,329,194 shares of the bank's stock worth $101,497,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155,800 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of SouthState by 16.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,914,710 shares of the bank's stock worth $645,762,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,653 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in SouthState by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,402,771 shares of the bank's stock worth $242,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066,192 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at SouthState

In related news, COO Renee R. Brooks sold 4,025 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.62, for a total transaction of $344,620.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,718,178.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, President Richard Iv Murray sold 4,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.85, for a total transaction of $401,065.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 58,968 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,826,530.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Renee R. Brooks sold 4,025 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.62, for a total value of $344,620.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 31,747 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,718,178.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,925 shares of company stock worth $988,686. Insiders own 1.26% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $102.00 target price (up from $96.00) on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of SouthState from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Raymond James downgraded shares of SouthState from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on SouthState from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $87.80.

SouthState Stock Up 2.0 %

SSB traded up $1.56 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $78.08. 661,692 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 412,216. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $81.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.36. The company has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.88. SouthState Co. has a one year low of $59.51 and a one year high of $87.77.

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

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. SouthState's payout ratio is 32.20%.

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.