Bragg Financial Advisors Inc Raises Stake in SouthState Co. $SSB

Bragg Financial Advisors Inc boosted its position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 14.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,181 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 405 shares during the quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in SouthState were worth $295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SSB. Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new stake in SouthState in the fourth quarter worth approximately $213,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in SouthState in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,682,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in SouthState by 104.4% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,072 shares of the bank’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 2,080 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in SouthState by 384.9% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 33,706 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,387,000 after purchasing an additional 26,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinebridge Investments L.P. lifted its position in SouthState by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 29,348 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,920,000 after purchasing an additional 8,781 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

SouthState Price Performance

Shares of SouthState stock opened at $100.5380 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $10.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.45 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day moving average of $94.44 and a 200 day moving average of $92.60. SouthState Co. has a 52 week low of $77.74 and a 52 week high of $114.26.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $840.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $645.12 million. SouthState had a return on equity of 9.62% and a net margin of 22.38%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This is a boost from SouthState’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on SSB. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on SouthState from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on SouthState in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $119.00 price objective on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SouthState has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.27.

Insider Activity at SouthState

In other news, Director G Stacy Smith acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $92.30 per share, for a total transaction of $230,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 39,546 shares in the company, valued at $3,650,095.80. This trade represents a 6.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher acquired 3,338 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $97.31 per share, with a total value of $324,820.78. Following the acquisition, the director owned 8,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $807,089.14. This represents a 67.35% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 8,338 shares of company stock worth $786,321 over the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.