Empowered Funds LLC Raises Position in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,430 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 670 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.18% of Southern First Bancshares worth $492,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 10.1% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 31,140 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 2,860 shares in the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $351,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $101,000. Long Focus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $292,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 31.5% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 33,468 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $979,000 after acquiring an additional 8,025 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern First Bancshares news, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 1,744 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.18, for a total transaction of $54,377.92. Following the transaction, the director now owns 58,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,833,945.24. This trade represents a 2.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 5,549 shares of company stock valued at $178,118 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 7.62% of the company’s stock.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:SFST opened at $44.01 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $359.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.44 and a beta of 0.79. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $24.98 and a one year high of $44.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.09. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.62.

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

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.