Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Increases Position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,057 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in SouthState were worth $1,949,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its stake in shares of SouthState by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,840 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in SouthState by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 408,894 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,736,000 after acquiring an additional 9,863 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in SouthState by 64.8% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 116,404 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,312,000 after purchasing an additional 45,785 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in SouthState in the third quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of SouthState by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,820,303 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $176,931,000 after purchasing an additional 31,340 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

SouthState Trading Up 4.3 %

SouthState stock opened at $96.89 on Wednesday. SouthState Co. has a 12 month low of $70.68 and a 12 month high of $114.26. The company has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.26. SouthState had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 9.41%. The business had revenue of $426.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $429.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that SouthState Co. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SSB. UBS Group assumed coverage on SouthState in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $132.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on SouthState in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of SouthState from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of SouthState from $111.00 to $103.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 target price (up previously from $115.00) on shares of SouthState in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.56.

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.