Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC Reduces Position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,845 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 189 shares during the quarter. Keyes Stange & Wooten Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in SouthState were worth $283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in SouthState by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 277,630 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,620,000 after purchasing an additional 11,214 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SouthState in the fourth quarter worth $5,682,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of SouthState during the fourth quarter worth $201,000. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new stake in SouthState in the 4th quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, Prospector Partners LLC lifted its stake in SouthState by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 186,058 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,509,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

SouthState Price Performance

SSB opened at $81.38 on Friday. SouthState Co. has a 52-week low of $70.68 and a 52-week high of $114.27. The stock has a market cap of $8.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a fifty day moving average of $94.71 and a 200 day moving average of $99.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. SouthState’s payout ratio is 31.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at SouthState

In related news, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 6,531 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.29, for a total value of $707,241.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,107 shares in the company, valued at $3,693,447.03. The trade was a 16.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sara Arana sold 1,991 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total transaction of $200,652.98. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $482,433.86. The trade was a 29.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SSB shares. Raymond James raised SouthState from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $120.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup raised shares of SouthState from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of SouthState from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of SouthState in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of SouthState in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $132.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SouthState currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.90.

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.