The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Raises Stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 4.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 731,802 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,194 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in SouthState were worth $71,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SSB. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in SouthState by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,328,984 shares of the bank’s stock worth $254,394,000 after purchasing an additional 371,987 shares in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of SouthState in the second quarter worth $7,303,000. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. bought a new position in shares of SouthState during the third quarter worth $9,086,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in SouthState by 7.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 987,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $95,999,000 after acquiring an additional 72,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in SouthState in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,829,000. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SouthState Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ SSB opened at $111.25 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. SouthState Co. has a 52 week low of $70.68 and a 52 week high of $114.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $100.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.41.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $426.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $429.47 million. SouthState had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 9.41%. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. On average, analysts predict that SouthState Co. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

SouthState Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on SSB shares. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of SouthState from $111.00 to $103.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target (up previously from $115.00) on shares of SouthState in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup assumed coverage on SouthState in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens raised their target price on shares of SouthState from $101.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of SouthState from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $105.11.

Insider Activity at SouthState

In other news, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,328 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,332,800. This trade represents a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 36,964 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,696,400. The trade was a 11.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.