Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 11,545 Shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. $SFST

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) by 89.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,495 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,545 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.30% of Southern First Bancshares worth $1,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 666 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 28.7% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,380 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 154.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,633 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern First Bancshares

In related news, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 765 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.60, for a total value of $46,359.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 50,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,073,329. This trade represents a 1.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Up 2.3%

NASDAQ SFST opened at $62.49 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $591.16 million, a PE ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.19. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.30 and a 52 week high of $62.60.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The bank reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $32.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.10 million. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 15.21% and a return on equity of 9.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SFST shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern First Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.00.

About Southern First Bancshares

Southern First Bancshares is the bank holding company for Southern First Bank, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the company delivers a full spectrum of commercial and consumer banking services designed to meet the needs of small and midsize businesses, professionals, and individual customers. Southern First Bancshares operates under a relationship-driven model, emphasizing personalized service and local decision–making.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking, savings, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside an array of lending solutions covering commercial real estate, construction, equipment financing and small business administration (SBA) loans.