Sei Investments Co. Grows Stake in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. $SFST

Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) by 147.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 34,706 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,673 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Southern First Bancshares were worth $1,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SFST. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 380,368 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,730,000 after acquiring an additional 2,657 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 3,764.7% in the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,570 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 6,400 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 89.2% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,495 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,335,000 after buying an additional 11,545 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 19,204 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 2,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Southern First Bancshares by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,959 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SFST. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

Southern First Bancshares stock opened at $63.33 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.75 and a 52 week high of $65.04. The company has a market capitalization of $599.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $60.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.80.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.01. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The company had revenue of $20.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.30 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern First Bancshares

In other news, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 765 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.60, for a total value of $46,359.00. Following the sale, the director owned 50,715 shares in the company, valued at $3,073,329. This represents a 1.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Julie Ann Fairchild sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $94,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $327,600. This trade represents a 22.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 2,518 shares of company stock worth $155,857 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Southern First Bancshares Company Profile

Southern First Bancshares is the bank holding company for Southern First Bank, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the company delivers a full spectrum of commercial and consumer banking services designed to meet the needs of small and midsize businesses, professionals, and individual customers. Southern First Bancshares operates under a relationship-driven model, emphasizing personalized service and local decision–making.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking, savings, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside an array of lending solutions covering commercial real estate, construction, equipment financing and small business administration (SBA) loans.