The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Purchases Shares of 855,527 SouthState Bank Corporation $SSB

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of SouthState Bank Corporation (NYSE:SSB) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 855,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,467,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SouthState Bank by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,937,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,029,315,000 after buying an additional 161,928 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in SouthState Bank in the 2nd quarter valued at about $981,557,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in SouthState Bank by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,934,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,554,000 after buying an additional 205,355 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in SouthState Bank by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,866,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $175,653,000 after acquiring an additional 85,981 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in SouthState Bank by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,647,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,068,000 after acquiring an additional 56,693 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at SouthState Bank

In other SouthState Bank news, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.93, for a total value of $435,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 40,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,419,072.24. This trade represents a 8.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David R. Brooks sold 24,650 shares of SouthState Bank stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $2,711,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,900 shares in the company, valued at $869,000. The trade was a 75.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,831 shares of company stock worth $3,814,274. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

SouthState Bank Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SSB opened at $106.12 on Wednesday. SouthState Bank Corporation has a 1 year low of $84.47 and a 1 year high of $112.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.16 and a beta of 0.71.

SouthState Bank (NYSE:SSB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $672.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $676.83 million. SouthState Bank had a net margin of 25.09% and a return on equity of 10.67%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that SouthState Bank Corporation will post 9.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is a positive change from SouthState Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. SouthState Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut SouthState Bank from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $108.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $116.00 target price on shares of SouthState Bank in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Barclays dropped their price target on SouthState Bank from $123.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on SouthState Bank from $108.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on SouthState Bank from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, SouthState Bank presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $119.64.

SouthState Bank Profile

SouthState Bank (NYSE: SSB) is a bank holding company headquartered in Winter Haven, Florida, that provides a range of commercial and retail banking services. Through its subsidiary, SouthState Bank, the company serves businesses, institutions and individuals with deposit, lending and treasury management solutions. Its core business lines include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate lending, consumer mortgages and home equity loans.

In addition to traditional lending and deposit products, SouthState Bank offers specialized services such as treasury and cash management, merchant services, payment solutions and online banking.