Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Raises Stock Holdings in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 190,776 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 2,214 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned 0.25% of SouthState worth $18,978,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of SouthState by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,820,303 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $176,931,000 after buying an additional 31,340 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in SouthState by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,039,891 shares of the bank’s stock worth $103,448,000 after purchasing an additional 52,042 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SouthState by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 851,455 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,703,000 after purchasing an additional 139,602 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of SouthState by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 842,498 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,812,000 after purchasing an additional 37,796 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of SouthState by 51.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 618,913 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,569,000 after purchasing an additional 210,019 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on SSB shares. Citigroup raised shares of SouthState from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of SouthState in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on SouthState in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $132.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.44.

SouthState Stock Performance

Shares of SSB opened at $92.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 0.68. SouthState Co. has a 52-week low of $70.68 and a 52-week high of $114.27. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $99.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.48.

SouthState Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.03%.

Insider Activity at SouthState

In other news, Director G Stacy Smith bought 3,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $93.60 per share, for a total transaction of $290,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,442,514.40. This trade represents a 9.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher bought 2,717 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $92.02 per share, with a total value of $250,018.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $431,481.78. This trade represents a 137.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 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.