Voya Investment Management LLC Grows Stake in SouthState Co. $SSB

Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 282.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 85,145 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,868 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.08% of SouthState worth $7,903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SSB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of SouthState by 31.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,079,578 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,028,406,000 after buying an additional 2,637,786 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in SouthState by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,556,410 shares of the bank’s stock worth $422,915,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164,348 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in SouthState by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,479,298 shares of the bank’s stock worth $322,949,000 after acquiring an additional 11,728 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in SouthState by 14.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,769,537 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $164,249,000 after acquiring an additional 222,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of SouthState by 38.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,437,262 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $133,407,000 after purchasing an additional 397,371 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

SouthState Price Performance

SSB opened at $101.25 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $98.05 and a 200-day moving average of $92.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. SouthState Co. has a 1-year low of $77.74 and a 1-year high of $114.26.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $840.50 million for 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 last year, the company posted $1.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This is a positive change from SouthState’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.77%.

Insider Activity at SouthState

In other news, Director G Stacy Smith purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $92.30 per share, with a total value of $230,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 39,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,650,095.80. The trade was a 6.75% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 5,000 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.60, for a total transaction of $498,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,785 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,165,786. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 8,338 shares of company stock valued at $786,321. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $117.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on SouthState in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their target price on SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SouthState presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.27.

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.