Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,619 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 2,919 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.63% of Southern First Bancshares worth $1,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American International Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 7.3% in the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 3,534 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 22.3% in the first quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 8,342 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 1,519 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P raised its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 11.2% in the first quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 10,902 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares during the last quarter. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 31.4% in the first quarter. Elizabeth Park Capital Advisors Ltd. now owns 12,568 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 20.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 18,639 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 3,112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.14% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) traded down 0.28% during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $35.25. 64,977 shares of the stock were exchanged. The firm has a market cap of $257.82 million, a PE ratio of 18.10 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $36.59 and its 200 day moving average is $34.66. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.53 and a 52-week high of $38.55.
Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 20.68%. The firm had revenue of $14.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.21 million. On average, analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post $2.03 earnings per share for the current year.
TRADEMARK VIOLATION NOTICE: This story was published by StockNewsTimes and is the sole property of of StockNewsTimes. If you are viewing this story on another domain, it was illegally copied and reposted in violation of United States and international copyright and trademark laws. The original version of this story can be accessed at https://stocknewstimes.com/2017/08/24/southern-first-bancshares-inc-sfst-shares-bought-by-renaissance-technologies-llc.html.
SFST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sandler O’Neill upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $35.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Monday, May 1st. ValuEngine upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 2nd. BidaskClub lowered shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.33.
In related news, CFO Michael D. Dowling sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.38, for a total transaction of $163,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 39,614 shares in the company, valued at $1,441,157.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Fred Gilmer, Jr. sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.69, for a total value of $44,028.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 50,320 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,846,240.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,927 shares of company stock valued at $611,937 over the last quarter. 14.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Southern First Bancshares Company Profile
Southern First Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company that owns the capital stock of Southern First Bank (the Bank), a South Carolina state bank, and all of the stock of Greenville First Statutory Trust I and II (the Trusts). The Bank is a commercial bank with approximately nine retail offices located in Greenville, Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina.
Receive News & Ratings for Southern First Bancshares Inc. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Southern First Bancshares Inc. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
