Merit Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in SouthState Bank Corporation $SSB

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in SouthState Bank Corporation (NYSE:SSB) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 12,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,190,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SSB. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in SouthState Bank by 44.5% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 300,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,850,000 after purchasing an additional 92,342 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its holdings in shares of SouthState Bank by 52.6% in the third quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 250,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,723,000 after buying an additional 86,234 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of SouthState Bank by 689.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 91,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,026,000 after acquiring an additional 79,719 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in SouthState Bank by 100.1% during the third quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 32,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,192,000 after acquiring an additional 16,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in SouthState Bank during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,698,000. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on SSB shares. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of SouthState Bank from $117.00 to $116.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 27th. Barclays dropped their price objective on SouthState Bank from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on SouthState Bank from $121.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. National Bankshares set a $127.00 price target on SouthState Bank in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of SouthState Bank in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, SouthState Bank has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.07.

SouthState Bank Trading Up 1.4%

SSB opened at $95.60 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $91.57. SouthState Bank Corporation has a 12-month low of $77.74 and a 12-month high of $109.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $9.61 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 0.74.

SouthState Bank (NYSE:SSB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $698.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $660.41 million. SouthState Bank had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 20.25%.During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.90 EPS.

SouthState Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. SouthState Bank’s payout ratio is presently 33.01%.

About SouthState Bank

SouthState Bank (NYSE: SSB) is a bank holding company headquartered in Winter Haven, Florida, that provides a range of commercial and retail banking services. Through its subsidiary, SouthState Bank, the company serves businesses, institutions and individuals with deposit, lending and treasury management solutions. Its core business lines include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate lending, consumer mortgages and home equity loans.

In addition to traditional lending and deposit products, SouthState Bank offers specialized services such as treasury and cash management, merchant services, payment solutions and online banking.