Barclays PLC Grows Stock Position in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST)

Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) by 47.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,303 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,111 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Southern First Bancshares were worth $862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 37.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,066 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Princeton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $204,000. Long Focus Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $292,000. Finally, Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,295 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern First Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:SFST opened at $39.75 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.98 and a 1-year high of $45.90. The firm has a market cap of $324.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98 and a beta of 0.82.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.16. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 6.67% and a return on equity of 4.42%. The company had revenue of $54.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $23.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern First Bancshares

In other news, CAO Julie Ann Fairchild sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $45,230.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,840 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,143.20. The trade was a 14.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 7.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.