SG Americas Securities LLC Grows Stock Position in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST)

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) by 35.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,041 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Southern First Bancshares were worth $161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 136.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,518 shares of the bank’s stock worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 8,390 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Southern First Bancshares by 47.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 25,303 shares of the bank’s stock worth $862,000 after purchasing an additional 8,111 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 44,643 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,775,000 after purchasing an additional 13,503 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 37.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,066 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 1.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 156,538 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,335,000 after buying an additional 1,645 shares during the last quarter. 75.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern First Bancshares

In other Southern First Bancshares news, CAO Julie Ann Fairchild sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $45,230.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,840 shares in the company, valued at $264,143.20. This trade represents a 14.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 7.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of SFST stock opened at $36.61 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $38.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.83. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.98 and a 52-week high of $45.90. 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 $298.74 million, a P/E ratio of 19.07 and a beta of 0.83.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.29. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 4.85% and a net margin of 7.28%. As a group, sell-side 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.