Short Interest in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Grows By 30.8%

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 59,500 shares, a growth of 30.8% from the September 15th total of 45,500 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 21,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th.

Southern First Bancshares Price Performance

Southern First Bancshares stock traded up $1.02 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.74. The company had a trading volume of 38,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,810. Southern First Bancshares has a 1-year low of $24.98 and a 1-year high of $39.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $299.65 million, a PE ratio of 21.78 and a beta of 0.81.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $54.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.13 million. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 6.67%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 2,515 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total value of $83,724.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 54,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,807,746.87. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 1,744 shares of Southern First Bancshares 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,833,945.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 2,515 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total transaction of $83,724.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 54,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,807,746.87. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,549 shares of company stock valued at $178,118 over the last quarter. 7.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 151,436 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,618,000 after purchasing an additional 32,621 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 181.4% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 25,443 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $808,000 after purchasing an additional 16,400 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 4.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 413,259 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,125,000 after acquiring an additional 16,012 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 36.4% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 54,457 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,728,000 after acquiring an additional 14,545 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth $394,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

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.