Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,441,792 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,673 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.07% of SouthState worth $839,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of SouthState by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,161 shares of the bank’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in SouthState during the 4th quarter worth $137,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in SouthState by 22,412.5% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,801 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,793 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its position in SouthState by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,840 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $183,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of SouthState by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,324 shares of the bank’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SSB shares. UBS Group initiated coverage on SouthState in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $132.00 target price for the company. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of SouthState in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of SouthState from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.44.

Insider Transactions at SouthState

In other SouthState news, CAO Sara Arana sold 1,991 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total transaction of $200,652.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,787 shares in the company, valued at $482,433.86. The trade was a 29.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher purchased 2,717 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $92.02 per share, for a total transaction of $250,018.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $431,481.78. The trade was a 137.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

SouthState Stock Down 1.6 %

SSB stock opened at $92.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.53. The company has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 0.68. SouthState Co. has a twelve month low of $70.68 and a twelve month high of $114.27.

SouthState Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.03%.

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.