SG Americas Securities LLC Makes New Investment in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST)

SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,232 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $157,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SFST. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 799,080 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,558,000 after buying an additional 117,405 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 777,221 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,236,000 after buying an additional 108,424 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 289.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 56,867 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,890,000 after buying an additional 42,271 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 251,207 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,712,000 after buying an additional 41,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 272.5% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 46,558 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,031,000 after purchasing an additional 34,058 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Southern First Bancshares stock opened at $26.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $217.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $31.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.75 and a twelve month high of $39.36.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The bank reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $51.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.46 million. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 7.16%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upgraded Southern First Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO R Arthur Seaver, Jr. sold 996 shares of Southern First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.25, for a total value of $31,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 83,470 shares in the company, valued at $2,608,437.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO R Arthur Seaver, Jr. sold 996 shares of Southern First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.25, for a total value of $31,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 83,470 shares in the company, valued at $2,608,437.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO R Arthur Seaver, Jr. sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.13, for a total transaction of $77,825.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,831,896.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,513 shares of company stock worth $109,477. Corporate insiders own 7.34% of the company’s stock.

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.