Insider Selling: SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) CFO Sells 6,531 Shares of Stock

SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 6,531 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.29, for a total transaction of $707,241.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 34,107 shares in the company, valued at $3,693,447.03. This represents a 16.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

SouthState Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SSB traded down $1.65 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $106.68. 862,522 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,186,251. SouthState Co. has a 1 year low of $70.68 and a 1 year high of $114.26. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $103.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.85. The firm has a market cap of $8.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

SouthState Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SouthState

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BIP Wealth LLC increased its holdings in SouthState by 605.2% in the third quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 31,422 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,054,000 after buying an additional 26,966 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in SouthState by 10.5% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 63,573 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,178,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in SouthState by 2.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 408,894 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,736,000 after purchasing an additional 9,863 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in SouthState by 3.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 711,853 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $69,178,000 after purchasing an additional 25,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of SouthState in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,008,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of SouthState in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $120.00 price target (up previously from $115.00) on shares of SouthState in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group began coverage on SouthState in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $132.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of SouthState from $111.00 to $103.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Hovde Group downgraded shares of SouthState from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SouthState presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.44.

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.