Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 102.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 956 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in SouthState were worth $89,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SSB. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of SouthState in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of SouthState in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of SouthState by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the bank’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of SouthState by 577.4% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 569 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of SouthState by 181.7% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 586 shares of the bank’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SSB has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $119.00 price target on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays dropped their price target on SouthState from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on SouthState in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $110.00 price target on SouthState in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.27.

SouthState Stock Performance

Shares of SSB opened at $85.99 on Friday. SouthState Co. has a 1 year low of $72.10 and a 1 year high of $114.27. The company has a market cap of $8.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $87.96 and a 200-day moving average of $94.71.

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.12%.

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.