Prospector Partners LLC Purchases 835 Shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Prospector Partners LLC grew its position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 77,032 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. Prospector Partners LLC owned approximately 0.10% of SouthState worth $6,505,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SSB. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its position in SouthState by 44.5% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 50,684 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,413,000 after buying an additional 15,599 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in SouthState by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,005,187 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,888,000 after buying an additional 25,328 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in SouthState during the third quarter worth $424,000. BIP Wealth LLC bought a new stake in SouthState during the fourth quarter worth $430,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in SouthState by 112.5% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 143,844 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,689,000 after purchasing an additional 76,153 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SouthState Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SSB traded down $2.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $76.12. The company had a trading volume of 200,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 421,228. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $80.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.50. SouthState Co. has a one year low of $62.09 and a one year high of $87.77.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) last released 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 firm had revenue of $415.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $414.32 million. SouthState had a net margin of 20.91% and a return on equity of 9.24%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.93 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that SouthState Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.00, for a total transaction of $243,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,902,068. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other SouthState news, President Richard Iv Murray sold 4,900 shares of the 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 owns 58,968 shares in the company, valued at $4,826,530.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 3,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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 owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SSB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James upgraded SouthState from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on SouthState from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on SouthState from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of SouthState from $89.00 to $84.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $102.00 price target (up previously from $96.00) on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.83.

About SouthState

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.