Wellington Management Group LLP Cuts Stock Position in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. $SFST

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 47.9%, holding 34,109 shares after selling 31,331 shares in the first quarter.
• Southern First Bancshares reported earnings of $0.81 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.65, and generated $28.63 million in revenue for the quarter.
• Piper Sandler raised the price target for Southern First Bancshares to $51.00, maintaining an "overweight" rating on the stock, reflecting positive analyst sentiment.

Wellington Management Group LLP lessened its holdings in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST - Free Report) by 47.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,109 shares of the bank's stock after selling 31,331 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.42% of Southern First Bancshares worth $1,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SFST. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at $616,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake 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 worth $13,947,000 after buying an additional 10,854 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $286,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 9,638.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,012 shares of the bank's stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 6,940 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 101,461 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,340,000 after buying an additional 3,902 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.00% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 1,083 shares of Southern First Bancshares 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 51,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,829,042.60. The trade was a 2.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,618 shares of company stock worth $57,769. 7.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

Southern First Bancshares stock opened at $45.10 on Monday. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.14 and a 12-month high of $45.99. The company has a market capitalization of $368.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $41.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.74.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $28.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 forecast that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Southern First Bancshares 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.

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