Barclays PLC Grows Stock Holdings in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST)

Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) by 47.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,303 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,111 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned about 0.31% of Southern First Bancshares worth $862,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in Southern First Bancshares by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 156,538 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,335,000 after acquiring an additional 1,645 shares during the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC purchased a new stake in Southern First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,155,000. De Lisle Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 15.6% during the third quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 12,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Southern First Bancshares by 37.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,066 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares during the period. Finally, Princeton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SFST opened at $39.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $324.36 million, a P/E ratio of 22.98 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.48. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.98 and a 52-week high of $45.90.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $54.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern First Bancshares 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 value of $45,230.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,143.20. This trade represents a 14.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 7.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.