Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Sells $16,800.00 in Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Anne S. Ellefson sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total value of $16,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $187,936. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of Southern First Bancshares stock traded down $0.73 on Thursday, reaching $27.29. The company had a trading volume of 18,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,463. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $30.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.78. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.75 and a 1 year high of $39.36. The firm has a market cap of $222.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.07 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 151,436 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,618,000 after buying an additional 32,621 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp purchased a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $809,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 212.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 32,479 shares of the bank’s stock worth $875,000 after buying an additional 22,070 shares in the last quarter. rhino investment partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at $551,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 61,800 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,293,000 after acquiring an additional 8,938 shares in the last quarter. 75.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on SFST shares. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com cut Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th.

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.