Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in SouthState Bank Corporation $SSB

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SouthState Bank Corporation (NYSE:SSB) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 221,291 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,154 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in SouthState Bank were worth $20,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SSB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in SouthState Bank by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,937,359 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,029,315,000 after purchasing an additional 161,928 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in SouthState Bank by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,729,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,101,000 after purchasing an additional 62,879 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SouthState Bank by 4.8% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of SouthState Bank by 3.6% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SouthState Bank by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,623,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,809,000 after buying an additional 15,787 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at SouthState Bank

In other news, Director David R. Brooks sold 14,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.39, for a total transaction of $1,406,977.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,249,553. This represents a 52.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

SouthState Bank Stock Performance

Shares of SSB opened at $102.19 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.59. The firm has a market cap of $9.98 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 0.70. SouthState Bank Corporation has a 12-month low of $84.47 and a 12-month high of $108.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

SouthState Bank (NYSE:SSB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $661.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.28 million. SouthState Bank had a net margin of 24.75% and a return on equity of 10.81%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that SouthState Bank Corporation will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

SouthState Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. SouthState Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group downgraded shares of SouthState Bank from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $108.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of SouthState Bank from $123.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of SouthState Bank from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on SouthState Bank from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on SouthState Bank from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SouthState Bank has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.50.

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.