Prudential Financial Inc. Lowers Stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 92.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,088 shares of the bank's stock after selling 128,608 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.'s holdings in SouthState were worth $1,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SSB. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of SouthState by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 21,200 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,109,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in SouthState by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 9,537 shares of the bank's stock worth $949,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in SouthState by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,324 shares of the bank's stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in shares of SouthState by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,567 shares of the bank's stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of SouthState by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,635 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,252,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other SouthState news, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 6,531 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher purchased 2,717 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $92.02 per share, for a total transaction of $250,018.34. Following the purchase, the director now owns 4,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $431,481.78. The trade was 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 insiders.

SouthState Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of SSB traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $81.38. The company had a trading volume of 743,468 shares, compared to its average volume of 615,701. SouthState Co. has a 1-year low of $70.68 and a 1-year 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.55. The stock has a market cap of $8.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 0.65.

SouthState Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SSB shares. Citigroup raised shares of 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 reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of SouthState in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James raised shares of SouthState from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $120.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group initiated coverage on SouthState in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $132.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on SouthState from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, SouthState has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.