Entropy Technologies LP Makes New Investment in SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB)

Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of SouthState Co. (NASDAQ:SSB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,707 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in SouthState by 153.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 10,229 shares of the bank's stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 6,196 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of SouthState by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 773,843 shares of the bank's stock valued at $76,982,000 after purchasing an additional 42,041 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of SouthState by 68.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,172 shares of the bank's stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of SouthState by 5.0% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,093,176 shares of the bank's stock valued at $100,856,000 after purchasing an additional 51,933 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in shares of SouthState by 32.1% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 11,492 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 2,790 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on SSB shares. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $117.00 price objective (up previously from $113.00) on shares of SouthState in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of SouthState from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of SouthState in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $106.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of SouthState from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of SouthState from $130.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $115.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director G Stacy Smith bought 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $92.30 per share, for a total transaction of $230,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 39,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,650,095.80. This trade represents a 6.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Janet P. Froetscher bought 3,338 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $97.31 per share, for a total transaction of $324,820.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $807,089.14. This represents a 67.35% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 8,338 shares of company stock worth $786,321. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

SouthState Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SSB opened at $97.55 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $93.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.96. SouthState Co. has a 1-year low of $77.74 and a 1-year high of $114.26. 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 cap of $9.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 0.79.

SouthState (NASDAQ:SSB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.98 by $0.32. SouthState had a net margin of 22.38% and a return on equity of 9.62%. The firm had revenue of $840.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $645.12 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that SouthState Co. will post 8.12 EPS for the current year.

SouthState Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a $0.60 dividend. This is a positive change from SouthState's previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. SouthState's payout ratio is 35.77%.

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.

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