Rhumbline Advisers Increases Stock Position in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST)

Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,506 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 813 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.15% of Southern First Bancshares worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Sheets Smith Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 15,191 shares of the bank’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Southern First Bancshares by 37.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,066 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Southern First Bancshares by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,430 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Southern First Bancshares by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,041 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $161,000 after buying an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in Southern First Bancshares by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 156,538 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,335,000 after buying an additional 1,645 shares during the last quarter. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFST opened at $33.49 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $36.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.13. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.98 and a 1-year high of $45.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $273.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44 and a beta of 0.87.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.29. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 4.85%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current 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.