Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Short Interest Up 24.5% in February

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 72,600 shares, a growth of 24.5% from the February 13th total of 58,300 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 18,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFST. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 4.9% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,430 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $492,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the period. Princeton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $204,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 37.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,066 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the period. De Lisle Partners LLP increased its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 12,591 shares of the bank’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Finally, Fourthstone LLC purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,155,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Southern First Bancshares Price Performance

SFST stock opened at $33.97 on Wednesday. Southern First Bancshares has a 52 week low of $24.98 and a 52 week high of $45.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $277.76 million, a P/E ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 0.87.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.29. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 4.85%. Analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.