Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 13,503 Shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) by 43.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,643 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,503 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.55% of Southern First Bancshares worth $1,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 323,001 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,444,000 after buying an additional 10,138 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 9.2% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 92,293 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,699,000 after purchasing an additional 7,786 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 31.5% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 33,468 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $979,000 after purchasing an additional 8,025 shares in the last quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $292,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $101,000. 75.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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 value of $45,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 7.62% of the company’s stock.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:SFST opened at $37.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.41. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.98 and a 52-week high of $45.90. The company has a market cap of $302.08 million, a PE ratio of 21.40 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $54.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.57 million. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 4.42% and a net margin of 6.67%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Southern First Bancshares

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.