Teacher Retirement System of Texas Lowers Holdings in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 18.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,648 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,687 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in SouthState were worth $761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SSB. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in SouthState by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,820,303 shares of the bank’s stock worth $176,931,000 after acquiring an additional 31,340 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of SouthState by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,039,891 shares of the bank’s stock worth $103,448,000 after purchasing an additional 52,042 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of SouthState by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 851,455 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,703,000 after purchasing an additional 139,602 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 842,498 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,812,000 after purchasing an additional 37,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of SouthState by 2.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 408,894 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,736,000 after buying an additional 9,863 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SouthState Price Performance

NASDAQ SSB opened at $92.32 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $99.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.59. The firm 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 52 week low of $70.68 and a 52 week high of $114.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

SouthState Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at SouthState

In other news, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 6,531 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.29, for a total value of $707,241.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,693,447.03. This represents a 16.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sara Arana sold 1,991 shares of SouthState 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $482,433.86. This trade represents a 29.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SSB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised SouthState from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of SouthState in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $132.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of SouthState in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.44.

About SouthState

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.