Fisher Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Fisher Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 773,463 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 127,763 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in SouthState were worth $65,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SSB. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of SouthState by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in SouthState by 6.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 22,961 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,547,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in SouthState by 16.4% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 14,781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $996,000 after buying an additional 2,078 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in SouthState during the third quarter valued at approximately $302,000. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association bought a new position in SouthState during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $417,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target (up from $96.00) on shares of SouthState in a report on Monday, January 29th. Raymond James lowered shares of SouthState from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of SouthState from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of SouthState from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of SouthState from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SouthState currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.17.

SouthState Stock Up 0.4 %

SouthState stock opened at $78.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. SouthState Co. has a one year low of $59.51 and a one year high of $87.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.04 and a beta of 0.75.

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

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.93%.

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.