Southern First Bancshares, Inc. $SFST Shares Bought by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) by 17.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 150,607 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,700 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Southern First Bancshares were worth $8,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SFST. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 60,578 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,121,000 after acquiring an additional 17,228 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $645,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $1,335,000 after acquiring an additional 11,545 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 666 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 26.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,760 shares of the bank’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Up 1.7%

SFST stock opened at $63.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $600.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.30 and a 12 month high of $64.06.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $20.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.30 million. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 10.76%. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Southern First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $64.00.

Insider Activity at Southern First Bancshares

In other news, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 765 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.60, for a total transaction of $46,359.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 50,715 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,073,329. This represents a 1.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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.