Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Raises Position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. raised its stake in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB) by 60.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,816 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,199 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in SouthState were worth $579,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of SouthState by 9,620.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,443 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of SouthState by 7.3% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 8,817 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $856,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of SouthState by 7.0% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of SouthState by 40.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 43,646 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,218,000 after acquiring an additional 12,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Planning Corp purchased a new stake in shares of SouthState during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,139,000. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SSB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised 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 report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group assumed coverage on SouthState in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $132.00 price target for the company. Hovde Group lowered SouthState from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of SouthState in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price objective (up from $115.00) on shares of SouthState in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SouthState presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.44.

Insider Transactions at SouthState

In related news, CAO Sara Arana sold 1,991 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.78, for a total transaction of $200,652.98. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $482,433.86. This trade represents a 29.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO William E. V. Matthews sold 6,531 shares of SouthState stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.29, for a total value of $707,241.99. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,107 shares of the company’s stock, 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 1.26% of the company’s stock.

SouthState Price Performance

SouthState stock opened at $94.63 on Thursday. SouthState Co. has a one year low of $70.68 and a one year high of $114.26. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $100.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.70.

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.54 dividend. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. SouthState’s payout ratio is currently 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.