De Lisle Partners LLP Increases Stock Position in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST)

De Lisle Partners LLP increased its position in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,591 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP owned about 0.15% of Southern First Bancshares worth $431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 413,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,125,000 after purchasing an additional 16,012 shares during the period. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 19.3% in the second quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,983 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 1,614 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Southern First Bancshares by 4.9% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,430 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 9.2% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 92,293 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,699,000 after acquiring an additional 7,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter worth $292,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFST opened at $44.50 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.98 and a twelve month high of $45.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $363.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.72 and a beta of 0.79.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.16. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 4.42% and a net margin of 6.67%. The company had revenue of $54.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Julie Ann Fairchild sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $45,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,840 shares in the company, valued at $264,143.20. This trade represents a 14.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 1,290 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.02, for a total value of $40,015.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 60,562 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,878,633.24. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,549 shares of company stock valued at $223,348. Corporate insiders own 7.62% of the company’s stock.

About Southern First Bancshares

Southern First Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Southern First Bank that provides commercial, consumer, and mortgage loans to the general public in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. The company accepts various deposit products that include checking accounts, commercial checking accounts, and savings accounts, as well as other time deposits, including daily money market accounts and long-term certificates of deposit.