Teton Advisors Inc. Trims Holdings in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Teton Advisors Inc. cut its stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,900 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Teton Advisors Inc.’s holdings in SouthState were worth $752,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SSB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in SouthState during the fourth quarter worth about $75,485,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in SouthState by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,208,224 shares of the bank’s stock worth $186,485,000 after buying an additional 466,144 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in SouthState by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 620,510 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,402,000 after buying an additional 149,745 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in SouthState by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 596,520 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,376,000 after buying an additional 116,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in SouthState during the third quarter worth about $6,378,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Richard Iv Murray sold 4,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.85, for a total value of $401,065.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 58,968 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,826,530.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total value of $243,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,902,068. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Richard Iv Murray sold 4,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.85, for a total value of $401,065.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 58,968 shares in the company, valued at $4,826,530.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

SouthState Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of SSB stock traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $78.27. 340,401 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 419,062. SouthState Co. has a 1 year low of $59.51 and a 1 year high of $87.77. The company’s 50 day moving average is $80.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 0.75.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.03. SouthState had a return on equity of 9.24% and a net margin of 20.91%. The firm had revenue of $415.49 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $414.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that SouthState Co. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

SouthState Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on SSB. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price target (up previously from $96.00) on shares of SouthState in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on SouthState from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Raymond James lowered SouthState from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on SouthState from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on SouthState from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SouthState currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.17.

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.