Kennedy Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in SouthState Bank Corporation $SSB

Kennedy Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of SouthState Bank Corporation (NYSE:SSB) by 18.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 190,399 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,319 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in SouthState Bank were worth $18,825,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sheets Smith Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of SouthState Bank by 1.7% in the third quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 6,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $638,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of SouthState Bank by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in SouthState Bank by 4.9% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its position in shares of SouthState Bank by 0.5% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 28,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,797,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Keybank National Association OH boosted its holdings in SouthState Bank by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 5,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of SouthState Bank in a research note on Friday, December 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded SouthState Bank from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on SouthState Bank from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on SouthState Bank from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on SouthState Bank from $122.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.71.

SouthState Bank Price Performance

SouthState Bank stock traded up $0.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $90.93. The company had a trading volume of 51,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 843,623. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.87. SouthState Bank Corporation has a 1-year low of $77.74 and a 1-year high of $108.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.92 billion, a PE ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93.

SouthState Bank (NYSE:SSB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.17. SouthState Bank had a net margin of 21.26% and a return on equity of 10.86%. The firm had revenue of $686.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $667.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.93 EPS.

SouthState Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. SouthState Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 30.53%.

About SouthState Bank

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.