Legal & General Group Plc Has $12.32 Million Holdings in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 123,784 shares of the bank's stock after selling 2,993 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.16% of SouthState worth $12,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SSB. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of SouthState by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 11,153 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in SouthState during the third quarter worth about $265,000. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in shares of SouthState by 64.8% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 116,404 shares of the bank's stock worth $11,312,000 after buying an additional 45,785 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of SouthState by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 408,894 shares of the bank's stock valued at $39,736,000 after acquiring an additional 9,863 shares during the period. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its stake in SouthState by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,840 shares of the bank's stock worth $183,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

SouthState Stock Performance

SSB traded up $0.75 on Friday, reaching $84.82. The company had a trading volume of 626,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 620,124. The company's fifty day moving average is $92.47 and its 200 day moving average is $99.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.19 and a beta of 0.65. SouthState Co. has a fifty-two week low of $70.68 and a fifty-two week high of $114.27.

SouthState Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid 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 dividend yield of 2.55%. SouthState's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Janet P. Froetscher bought 2,717 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $92.02 per share, with a total value of $250,018.34. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 6,531 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.29, for a total transaction of $707,241.99. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 34,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,693,447.03. This trade represents a 16.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on SSB. Raymond James upgraded SouthState from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup raised SouthState from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of SouthState in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on SouthState from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $117.90.

SouthState Profile

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.