State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Raises Position in SouthState Co. $SSB

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 20.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,059 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 5,121 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in SouthState were worth $2,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of SouthState by 14.4% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,769,537 shares of the bank’s stock worth $164,249,000 after buying an additional 222,818 shares during the period. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in SouthState in the first quarter valued at about $2,694,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in SouthState by 34.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,556,410 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $422,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164,348 shares during the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in SouthState in the first quarter valued at about $604,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd boosted its holdings in SouthState by 179.3% in the first quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd now owns 17,345 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after purchasing an additional 11,135 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

SouthState Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ SSB opened at $96.5970 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $93.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.67. SouthState Co. has a 52-week low of $77.74 and a 52-week high of $114.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.88 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $645.12 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from SouthState’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. SouthState’s payout ratio is currently 35.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Hovde Group increased their price target on SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial set a $110.00 price target on SouthState in a report on Monday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $119.00 price target on shares of SouthState in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SouthState presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $115.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.