Cullen Capital Management LLC Grows Holdings in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Cullen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 15.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,082 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 972 shares during the quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in SouthState were worth $705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of SouthState by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,913,615 shares of the bank’s stock worth $192,531,000 after purchasing an additional 93,312 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in SouthState by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,039,891 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $103,448,000 after buying an additional 52,042 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in SouthState by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 851,455 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $84,703,000 after buying an additional 139,602 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in SouthState by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 842,498 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,812,000 after buying an additional 37,796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of SouthState in the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,260,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised SouthState from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of SouthState in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $132.00 price target on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of SouthState in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of SouthState in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James raised SouthState from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $120.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.40.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Janet P. Froetscher purchased 2,717 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $92.02 per share, with a total value of $250,018.34. Following the purchase, the director now owns 4,689 shares in the company, valued at $431,481.78. This trade represents a 137.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 6,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 16.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

SouthState Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SSB opened at $81.47 on Friday. SouthState Co. has a 52 week low of $70.68 and a 52 week high of $114.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $97.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

SouthState Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.03%.

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.