Short Interest in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Declines By 27.6%

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 49,000 shares, a drop of 27.6% from the May 15th total of 67,700 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 15,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern First Bancshares

In other news, CEO R Arthur Seaver, Jr. sold 996 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.25, for a total value of $31,125.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 83,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,608,437.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Southern First Bancshares news, CEO R Arthur Seaver, Jr. sold 996 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.25, for a total transaction of $31,125.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 83,470 shares in the company, valued at $2,608,437.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 1,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.34, for a total value of $48,419.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 62,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,713,233.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,976 shares of company stock valued at $141,958. 7.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 19,140 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Southern First Bancshares by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,860 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 139,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,730 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Southern First Bancshares by 93.5% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,921 shares of the bank’s stock worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southern First Bancshares by 256.4% during the 4th quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,780 shares of the bank’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. 75.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ SFST traded down $0.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $26.44. 10,806 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,995. Southern First Bancshares has a twelve month low of $23.70 and a twelve month high of $39.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.61.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $21.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.38 million. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 4.30% and a net margin of 6.69%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.57 EPS 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.