Howard Financial Services LTD. Takes $1.52 Million Position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Howard Financial Services LTD. purchased a new stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 16,326 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,515,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of SouthState by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 508 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in SouthState by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 21,200 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,109,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in SouthState by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,537 shares of the bank’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc grew its stake in SouthState by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 2,776 shares of the bank’s stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in SouthState by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,324 shares of the bank’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SouthState Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of SSB stock opened at $88.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. SouthState Co. has a 1 year low of $70.68 and a 1 year high of $114.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $87.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76 and a beta of 0.75.

SouthState Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial assumed coverage on SouthState in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $106.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on SouthState from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on SouthState in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on SouthState from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $116.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Janet P. Froetscher acquired 2,717 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $92.02 per share, for a total transaction of $250,018.34. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,689 shares in the company, valued at $431,481.78. This represents a 137.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sara Arana sold 1,991 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total value of $200,652.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $482,433.86. This trade represents a 29.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by 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.