Verition Fund Management LLC Boosts Stake in SouthState Bank Corporation $SSB

Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SouthState Bank Corporation (NYSE:SSB) by 40.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 532,971 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 152,373 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in SouthState Bank were worth $50,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SSB. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in SouthState Bank by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of SouthState Bank in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,930,000. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in shares of SouthState Bank in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,153,000. FJ Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of SouthState Bank by 54.0% during the 4th quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 813,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,515,000 after purchasing an additional 285,091 shares during the period. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in SouthState Bank by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 205,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,344,000 after purchasing an additional 15,152 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SSB. Hovde Group boosted their target price on SouthState Bank from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays dropped their price objective on SouthState Bank from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of SouthState Bank in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Wall Street Zen raised SouthState Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut SouthState Bank from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SouthState Bank news, Director David R. Brooks sold 14,300 shares of SouthState Bank stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.39, for a total transaction of $1,406,977.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,249,553. The trade was a 52.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

SouthState Bank Price Performance

SouthState Bank stock opened at $98.75 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. SouthState Bank Corporation has a 52-week low of $84.47 and a 52-week high of $108.46. The firm has a market cap of $9.65 billion, a PE ratio of 10.65 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50 day moving average is $95.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.47.

SouthState Bank (NYSE:SSB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.07. SouthState Bank had a net margin of 24.75% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The firm had revenue of $661.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $669.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.87 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that SouthState Bank Corporation will post 9.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. SouthState Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 25.89%.

SouthState Bank Profile

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.