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

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 72,600 shares, an increase of 24.5% from the February 13th total of 58,300 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 18,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Southern First Bancshares Price Performance

Southern First Bancshares stock opened at $33.97 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $35.22 and its 200 day moving average is $37.20. The firm has a market cap of $277.76 million, a P/E ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 0.87. Southern First Bancshares has a one year low of $24.98 and a one year high of $45.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.29. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 4.85% and a net margin of 7.28%. As a group, research analysts expect that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rhino Investment Partners Inc raised its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2,936.8% during the fourth quarter. Rhino Investment Partners Inc now owns 230,221 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,151,000 after purchasing an additional 222,640 shares during the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $1,685,000. Fourthstone LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the third quarter worth $1,155,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 97,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,878,000 after acquiring an additional 14,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 43.4% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 44,643 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,775,000 after acquiring an additional 13,503 shares during the last quarter. 75.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.