Cetera Investment Advisers Raises Position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 188.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,756 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,988 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in SouthState were worth $1,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SSB. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SouthState in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 577.4% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 569 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 181.7% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 586 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of SouthState in the first quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in SouthState by 14.2% during the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 943 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

SouthState Stock Performance

Shares of SSB opened at $92.29 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $9.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average of $92.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.05. SouthState Co. has a 12-month low of $77.74 and a 12-month high of $114.26.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $840.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $645.12 million. SouthState had a net margin of 22.38% and a return on equity of 9.62%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This is a boost from SouthState’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on SSB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $117.00 price objective (up previously from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a report on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial set a $110.00 price objective on shares of SouthState in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $119.00 price objective on shares of SouthState in a report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SouthState currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director G Stacy Smith acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $92.30 per share, with a total value of $230,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 39,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,650,095.80. This represents a 6.75% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher acquired 3,338 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $97.31 per share, with a total value of $324,820.78. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $807,089.14. The trade was a 67.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders bought 8,338 shares of company stock valued at $786,321. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

SouthState Company 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.