Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 1,337 Shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,306 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,337 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.53% of Southern First Bancshares worth $1,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 65,440 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,601,000 after buying an additional 11,537 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $286,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 15,105 shares of the bank’s stock worth $600,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 350,875 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,947,000 after acquiring an additional 10,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 97,559 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,878,000 after acquiring an additional 14,966 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Piper Sandler upgraded Southern First Bancshares to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $43.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern First Bancshares

In other news, Director William Iv Maner purchased 700 shares of Southern First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $36.15 per share, with a total value of $25,305.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,700 shares in the company, valued at $97,605. This trade represents a 35.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.06% of the company’s stock.

Southern First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of SFST opened at $35.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $286.52 million, a P/E ratio of 15.52 and a beta of 0.77. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.27 and a 1 year high of $45.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $35.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.04. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 5.57%. The business had revenue of $26.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.56 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

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.