Cerity Partners LLC Grows Stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 22.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,113 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 2,365 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in SouthState were worth $1,274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SSB. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in SouthState by 12.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,328,984 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $254,394,000 after purchasing an additional 371,987 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in SouthState by 1.6% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,802,373 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $214,157,000 after acquiring an additional 45,176 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in SouthState by 2.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,685,828 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $128,831,000 after acquiring an additional 39,492 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in SouthState by 2.8% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,494,332 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,197,000 after acquiring an additional 40,879 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in SouthState by 1.9% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,144,513 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,464,000 after acquiring an additional 21,160 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SouthState Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ SSB opened at $109.78 on Wednesday. SouthState Co. has a 12-month low of $70.68 and a 12-month high of $114.26. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $101.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.38 billion, a PE ratio of 16.94 and a beta of 0.69.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $426.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $429.47 million. SouthState had a return on equity of 9.41% and a net margin of 21.24%. The company’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that SouthState Co. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 2,500 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,332,800. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 5,000 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 36,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,696,400. The trade was a 11.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SSB shares. Citigroup started coverage on SouthState in a report on Thursday, October 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price target on SouthState from $111.00 to $103.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stephens lifted their target price on SouthState from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Hovde Group cut SouthState from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on SouthState from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, SouthState presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.11.

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.