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

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST - Free Report) by 43.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,643 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 13,503 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.55% of Southern First Bancshares worth $1,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 3.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 323,001 shares of the bank's stock valued at $9,444,000 after acquiring an additional 10,138 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 171,207 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,835,000 after purchasing an additional 3,154 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,645 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 9.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Fourthstone LLC bought a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $1,155,000. 75.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

Southern First Bancshares stock traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $36.58. 10,179 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,052. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.30 and a 200 day moving average of $36.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.98 and a 12 month high of $45.90. The firm has a market cap of $298.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.14 and a beta of 0.85.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $23.57 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Southern First Bancshares

In other Southern First Bancshares news, CAO Julie Ann Fairchild sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 5,840 shares of the company's stock, valued at $264,143.20. This represents a 14.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 7.62% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.