Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Holdings in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 36.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 19,601 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,263 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in SouthState were worth $1,655,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SSB. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in SouthState by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 95,267 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,045,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of SouthState by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 50,258 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,244,000 after buying an additional 2,813 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in SouthState during the fourth quarter worth $368,000. BIP Wealth LLC purchased a new position in SouthState in the fourth quarter worth $430,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in SouthState in the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on SSB. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective (up previously from $96.00) on shares of SouthState in a report on Monday, January 29th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on SouthState from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on SouthState from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on SouthState from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, SouthState presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 3,000 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $243,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,902,068. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $243,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,828 shares in the company, valued at $2,902,068. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Richard Iv Murray sold 4,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.85, for a total transaction of $401,065.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 58,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,826,530.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

SouthState Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of SouthState stock opened at $80.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. SouthState Co. has a fifty-two week low of $59.84 and a fifty-two week high of $87.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $80.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.55.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.03. SouthState had a net margin of 20.91% and a return on equity of 9.24%. The company had revenue of $415.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $414.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that SouthState Co. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

SouthState Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.93%.

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.