Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Holdings in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 57,116 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $5,682,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in SouthState by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,128 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,201,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its position in SouthState by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 5,816 shares of the bank’s stock worth $579,000 after buying an additional 2,199 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake 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 period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SouthState by 19.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at SouthState

In other news, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 6,531 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,693,447.03. This represents a 16.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher purchased 2,717 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $92.02 per share, for a total transaction of $250,018.34. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $431,481.78. This trade represents a 137.78 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

SouthState Stock Up 2.8 %

SSB opened at $95.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $99.46 and a 200-day moving average of $100.57. The company has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.66 and a beta of 0.68. SouthState Co. has a fifty-two week low of $70.68 and a fifty-two week high of $114.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upgraded SouthState from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of SouthState in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $132.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of SouthState in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.44.

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.