This Insider Has Just Sold Shares In SouthState

We wouldn't blame SouthState Corporation (NYSE:SSB) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Renee Brooks, the Chief Operating Officer recently netted about US$759k selling shares at an average price of US$110. That sale reduced their total holding by 19% which is hardly insignificant, but far from the worst we've seen.

Check out our latest analysis for SouthState

SouthState Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Notably, that recent sale by Renee Brooks is the biggest insider sale of SouthState shares that we've seen in the last year. That means that even when the share price was slightly below the current price of US$111, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. As a general rule we consider it to be discouraging when insiders are selling below the current price, because it suggests they were happy with a lower valuation. While insider selling is not a positive sign, we can't be sure if it does mean insiders think the shares are fully valued, so it's only a weak sign. This single sale was just 19% of Renee Brooks's stake.

SouthState insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

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Does SouthState Boast High Insider Ownership?

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It appears that SouthState insiders own 1.0% of the company, worth about US$86m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At SouthState Tell Us?

Insiders sold SouthState shares recently, but they didn't buy any. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. Insiders own shares, but we're still pretty cautious, given the history of sales. We'd practice some caution before buying! While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. While conducting our analysis, we found that SouthState has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.

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For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.