Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Takes $11.82 Million Position in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 118,800 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $11,818,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.16% of SouthState at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of SouthState by 2.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 408,894 shares of the bank's stock valued at $39,736,000 after buying an additional 9,863 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of SouthState in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,008,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in shares of SouthState in the 4th quarter worth $60,311,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SouthState by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 14,877 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 3,724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of SouthState in the third quarter worth about $265,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at SouthState

In related news, Director Janet P. Froetscher purchased 2,717 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $92.02 per share, with a total value of $250,018.34. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,689 shares in the company, valued at $431,481.78. This represents a 137.78 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sara Arana sold 1,991 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $482,433.86. The trade was a 29.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on SSB. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of SouthState from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Barclays lowered their price target on SouthState from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup upgraded shares of SouthState from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $106.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James set a $110.00 price objective on SouthState in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $119.00 price target on shares of SouthState in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $116.60.

SouthState Price Performance

Shares of SSB stock traded up $1.06 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $87.84. 624,442 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 630,576. 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 company has a market cap of $8.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 0.65. The stock's fifty day moving average is $90.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.65. SouthState Co. has a fifty-two week low of $70.68 and a fifty-two week high of $114.27.

SouthState Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. SouthState's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.12%.

SouthState 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.