Nuveen LLC Acquires New 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 bought a new position in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 18,714 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $616,000. Nuveen LLC owned 0.23% of Southern First Bancshares as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SFST. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 7,506 shares of the bank's stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 986 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 10,854 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Southern First Bancshares by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 79,280 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,560 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Southern First Bancshares by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 278,549 shares of the bank's stock valued at $11,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Southern First Bancshares by 36.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 9,114 shares of the bank's stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 2,455 shares during the period. 75.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Southern First Bancshares Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:SFST traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $44.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,136. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.93 and a 200-day moving average of $37.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $366.38 million, a P/E ratio of 16.59 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.14 and a 12-month high of $46.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern First Bancshares

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 directly owned 51,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,829,042.60. This represents a 2.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 7.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Southern First Bancshares

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.