Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $5.68 Million in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 57,116 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $5,682,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of SouthState at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of SouthState by 1.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,820,303 shares of the bank’s stock worth $176,931,000 after purchasing an additional 31,340 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in SouthState by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,039,891 shares of the bank’s stock worth $103,448,000 after purchasing an additional 52,042 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in SouthState by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 851,455 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,703,000 after buying an additional 139,602 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in SouthState by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 842,498 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,812,000 after buying an additional 37,796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of SouthState by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 731,802 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $71,117,000 after buying an additional 34,194 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director G Stacy Smith acquired 3,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $93.60 per share, with a total value of $290,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,442,514.40. The trade was a 9.20 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 6,531 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were 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 directly owns 34,107 shares in the company, valued at $3,693,447.03. This represents a 16.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SSB has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of SouthState in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of SouthState in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $132.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of SouthState from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.44.

SouthState Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SSB opened at $95.05 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.57. SouthState Co. has a fifty-two week low of $70.68 and a fifty-two week high of $114.27. The company has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.27%. SouthState’s dividend payout ratio is 31.03%.

SouthState Company 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.