Calton & Associates Inc. Purchases Shares of 4,478 SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Calton & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,478 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $435,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SSB. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in SouthState by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,328,984 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $254,394,000 after acquiring an additional 371,987 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 270.2% during the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 353,700 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,075,000 after buying an additional 258,168 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC acquired a new position in SouthState in the 2nd quarter valued at about $7,303,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in SouthState in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,829,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in SouthState by 1.6% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,802,373 shares of the bank’s stock worth $214,157,000 after acquiring an additional 45,176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on SSB. Stephens upped their target price on SouthState from $88.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on SouthState from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of SouthState from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of SouthState from $97.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of SouthState from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.89.

SouthState Price Performance

Shares of SouthState stock traded up $0.33 on Tuesday, reaching $96.85. 16,454 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 475,885. SouthState Co. has a one year low of $63.36 and a one year high of $103.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $95.74 and its 200-day moving average is $85.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 0.67.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The bank reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.25. SouthState had a return on equity of 9.31% and a net margin of 20.84%. The firm had revenue of $425.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $418.08 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that SouthState Co. will post 6.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This is a boost from SouthState’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. SouthState’s payout ratio is presently 35.24%.

Insider Transactions at SouthState

In related news, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,328 shares in the company, valued at $3,332,800. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 5,000 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $500,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 36,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,696,400. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,332,800. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

SouthState 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.