Fourthstone LLC Takes Position in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST)

Fourthstone LLC bought a new position in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 33,897 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,155,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 16,012 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at about $394,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Southern First Bancshares by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 28,280 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,983 shares of the bank’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 1,614 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,654 shares of the bank’s stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 2,945 shares during the period. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of SFST traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $44.50. 17,380 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,725. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $363.12 million, a P/E ratio of 25.72 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $38.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.97. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.98 and a 1 year high of $45.90.

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

Insider Activity at Southern First Bancshares

In other news, CAO Julie Ann Fairchild sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $45,230.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $264,143.20. The trade was a 14.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 1,290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.02, for a total transaction of $40,015.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 60,562 shares in the company, valued at $1,878,633.24. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,549 shares of company stock worth $223,348 over the last 90 days. 7.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern First Bancshares Company Profile

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.