Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Purchases 227,168 Shares of SouthState Bank Corporation $SSB

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in SouthState Bank Corporation (NYSE:SSB) by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,217,703 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 227,168 shares during the quarter. SouthState Bank comprises 0.8% of Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in SouthState Bank were worth $112,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in SouthState Bank by 34.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,556,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,915,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164,348 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SouthState Bank by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,479,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,949,000 after purchasing an additional 11,728 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SouthState Bank by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,948,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,310,000 after purchasing an additional 178,842 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of SouthState Bank by 9,074.2% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,435,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of SouthState Bank by 23.3% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,371,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,285,000 after buying an additional 259,557 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on SSB. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of SouthState Bank in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of SouthState Bank from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Cowen started coverage on shares of SouthState Bank in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of SouthState Bank in a research note on Friday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of SouthState Bank from $117.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, SouthState Bank has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.29.

SouthState Bank Price Performance

SouthState Bank stock opened at $95.97 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $91.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 0.76. SouthState Bank Corporation has a 1 year low of $77.74 and a 1 year high of $109.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

SouthState Bank (NYSE:SSB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.38. SouthState Bank had a net margin of 20.25% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The business had revenue of $698.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $660.41 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.90 EPS.

SouthState Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. SouthState Bank’s payout ratio is currently 33.01%.

SouthState Bank 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 accepts checking accounts, savings deposits, interest-bearing transaction accounts, certificates of deposits, money market accounts, and other time deposits.