Nuveen LLC Takes $616,000 Position in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. $SFST

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has acquired a new stake in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. worth approximately $616,000, holding about 0.23% of the company's stock.
• Several institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Wagner Wealth Management LLC, significantly increased their stakes in Southern First Bancshares during the first quarter.
• Piper Sandler has raised its price target for Southern First Bancshares from $43.00 to $51.00, reflecting an "overweight" rating for the company's stock.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 18,714 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $616,000. Nuveen LLC owned about 0.23% of Southern First Bancshares as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SFST. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 65,440 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,601,000 after purchasing an additional 11,537 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 350,875 shares of the bank's stock valued at $13,947,000 after acquiring an additional 10,854 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $286,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 9,638.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,012 shares of the bank's stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 6,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wagner Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 49.5% during the 1st quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,306 shares of the bank's stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 2,750 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Southern First Bancshares from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $51.00.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Up 0.2%

SFST stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $45.16. The stock had a trading volume of 2,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,847. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.14 and a 1-year high of $46.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $369.41 million, a P/E ratio of 16.73 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.15.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.16. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 6.52%. The firm had revenue of $28.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.80 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 1,083 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.72, for a total value of $38,684.76. Following the sale, the director owned 51,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,829,042.60. This represents a 2.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.06% of the company's stock.

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.