Synovus Financial Corp Boosts Position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) by 64.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,404 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 45,785 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp owned approximately 0.15% of SouthState worth $11,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SSB. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of SouthState during the third quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in SouthState by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,820,303 shares of the bank's stock valued at $176,931,000 after acquiring an additional 31,340 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in SouthState in the 3rd quarter valued at $445,000. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in SouthState by 14.5% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 149,411 shares of the bank's stock worth $14,520,000 after purchasing an additional 18,881 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of SouthState by 10.5% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 63,573 shares of the bank's stock worth $6,178,000 after purchasing an additional 6,062 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

SouthState Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ SSB traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $108.71. 571,293 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 490,759. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $104.17 and a 200 day moving average of $93.01. SouthState Co. has a 1 year low of $70.68 and a 1 year high of $114.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $8.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 0.69.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The bank reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $426.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $429.47 million. SouthState had a net margin of 21.24% and a return on equity of 9.41%. The company's revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that SouthState Co. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

SouthState Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. SouthState's payout ratio is presently 33.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SSB shares. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of SouthState in a report on Thursday, October 10th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $102.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $120.00 price target (up previously from $115.00) on shares of SouthState in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Hovde Group downgraded SouthState from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on SouthState from $110.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stephens upgraded SouthState from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $105.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 5,000 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction on Friday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 36,964 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,696,400. The trade was a 11.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Daniel E. Bockhorst sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,332,800. The trade was a 6.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company's stock.

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.