Banc Funds Co. LLC Reduces Position in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST)

Banc Funds Co. LLC reduced its position in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) by 7.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 370,243 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 31,000 shares during the period. Southern First Bancshares makes up 1.4% of Banc Funds Co. LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Banc Funds Co. LLC’s holdings in Southern First Bancshares were worth $12,618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 37.9% during the third 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. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $101,000. Princeton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $204,000. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 19.3% during the 2nd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,983 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 1,614 shares during the period. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $292,000. 75.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:SFST opened at $44.69 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $364.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.83 and a beta of 0.79. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.98 and a twelve month high of $45.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.25.

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

Insider Activity

In other Southern First Bancshares news, CAO Julie Ann Fairchild sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.23, for a total transaction of $45,230.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,840 shares in the company, valued at $264,143.20. This represents a 14.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 1,744 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.18, for a total transaction of $54,377.92. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,818 shares in the company, valued at $1,833,945.24. This trade represents a 2.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,549 shares of company stock valued at $223,348. Corporate insiders own 7.62% of the company’s stock.

Southern First Bancshares 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.