Legal & General Group Plc Invests $12.54 Million in SouthState Bank Corporation $SSB

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in SouthState Bank Corporation (NYSE:SSB) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 125,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,535,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.13% of SouthState Bank at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SSB. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in SouthState Bank during the 2nd quarter worth $981,557,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of SouthState Bank by 4.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,934,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,554,000 after buying an additional 205,355 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of SouthState Bank by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,866,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,653,000 after buying an additional 85,981 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of SouthState Bank by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,647,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,068,000 after buying an additional 56,693 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SouthState Bank by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,623,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,809,000 after buying an additional 15,787 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

SouthState Bank Stock Performance

SSB opened at $104.87 on Tuesday. SouthState Bank Corporation has a 1-year low of $84.47 and a 1-year high of $112.20. The stock has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

SouthState Bank (NYSE:SSB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $672.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $676.83 million. SouthState Bank had a return on equity of 10.67% and a net margin of 25.09%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that SouthState Bank Corporation will post 9.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SouthState Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from SouthState Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. SouthState Bank’s payout ratio is presently 27.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.93, for a total value of $435,720.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 40,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,419,072.24. This represents a 8.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David R. Brooks sold 24,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $2,711,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $869,000. This trade represents a 75.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 34,831 shares of company stock worth $3,814,274 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on SSB shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on SouthState Bank from $123.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group lowered SouthState Bank from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $108.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $116.00 price target on shares of SouthState Bank in a research note on Monday, July 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on SouthState Bank from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of SouthState Bank from $108.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $119.64.

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.