Southern First Bancshares, Inc. $SFST Shares Sold by Acadian Asset Management LLC

Acadian Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 52,014 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,193 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned 0.64% of Southern First Bancshares worth $1,711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 9,638.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,012 shares of the bank’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 6,940 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 65,440 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,601,000 after acquiring an additional 11,537 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $286,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 0.7% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,974 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $26,434,000 after acquiring an additional 5,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 4.0% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 101,461 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,340,000 after acquiring an additional 3,902 shares during the last quarter. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Southern First Bancshares from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.00.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ SFST opened at $43.83 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $358.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $29.14 and a 52-week high of $46.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $42.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.58.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $28.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.80 million. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 6.52% and a net margin of 10.09%. Research analysts predict that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Southern First Bancshares

In other Southern First Bancshares news, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 1,083 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.72, for a total value of $38,684.76. Following the sale, the director owned 51,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,829,042.60. The trade was a 2.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 7.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern First Bancshares 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.