Independent Advisor Alliance Has $2.64 Million Holdings in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,386 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in SouthState were worth $2,635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in SouthState during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in SouthState by 577.4% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 569 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in SouthState by 181.7% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 586 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in SouthState during the 1st quarter valued at $69,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its holdings in SouthState by 253.3% during the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 756 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SouthState Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:SSB opened at $92.06 on Tuesday. SouthState Co. has a 1 year low of $77.74 and a 1 year high of $114.26. 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 $9.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.23 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $92.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.97.

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

SouthState Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from SouthState’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. SouthState’s payout ratio is presently 35.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SSB has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James Financial set a $110.00 target price on SouthState in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $119.00 target price on shares of SouthState in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $117.00 target price (up from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SouthState presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $115.27.

Insider Transactions at SouthState

In other news, Director Janet P. Froetscher acquired 3,338 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $97.31 per share, with a total value of $324,820.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $807,089.14. This represents a 67.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director G Stacy Smith acquired 2,500 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,650,095.80. This trade represents a 6.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 8,338 shares of company stock valued at $786,321. 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.