Bailard Inc. Buys New Holdings in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Bailard Inc. bought a new position in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,355 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $368,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its holdings in shares of SouthState by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 19,019 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of SouthState by 3.0% during the third quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 5,863 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of SouthState by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 3,608 shares of the bank’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of SouthState by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 29,465 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,488,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Prospector Partners LLC grew its holdings in SouthState by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 76,197 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,133,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SouthState Stock Performance

SSB opened at $77.95 on Monday. SouthState Co. has a twelve month low of $59.51 and a twelve month high of $87.77. The stock has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50 day moving average is $81.40 and its 200-day moving average is $79.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $415.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $414.32 million. SouthState had a return on equity of 9.24% and a net margin of 20.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that SouthState Co. will post 6.48 earnings per share for the current year.

SouthState Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid 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 2.67%. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SSB shares. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of SouthState from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $102.00 price objective (up from $96.00) on shares of SouthState in a report on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James cut SouthState from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of SouthState from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SouthState has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other SouthState news, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $243,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 35,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,902,068. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, President Richard Iv Murray sold 4,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.85, for a total transaction of $401,065.00. Following the completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 35,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,902,068. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

SouthState Company 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.