Schroder Investment Management Group Reduces Position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Schroder Investment Management Group reduced its holdings in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 420,907 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 40,495 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in SouthState were worth $42,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SSB. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in SouthState by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,161 shares of the bank’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of SouthState during the 4th quarter worth $137,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of SouthState by 22,412.5% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,801 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 1,793 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its stake in shares of SouthState by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,840 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Intrust Bank NA bought a new stake in shares of SouthState in the fourth quarter valued at about $213,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at SouthState

In related news, CAO Sara Arana sold 1,991 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total value of $200,652.98. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $482,433.86. This represents a 29.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 6,531 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.29, for a total value of $707,241.99. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,693,447.03. This represents a 16.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SSB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of SouthState in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays started coverage on shares of SouthState in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of SouthState from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on SouthState in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $132.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.90.

SouthState Stock Performance

Shares of SSB stock opened at $92.36 on Wednesday. SouthState Co. has a 12-month low of $70.68 and a 12-month high of $114.27. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $9.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27 and a beta of 0.68.

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.03%.

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.