Teton Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 18,000 Southern First Bancshares, Inc. $SFST

Teton Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 18,000 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $794,000. Teton Advisors LLC owned about 0.22% of Southern First Bancshares as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 431,814 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,052,000 after buying an additional 10,741 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 1.4% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 375,382 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,562,000 after acquiring an additional 5,315 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 180,585 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,870,000 after buying an additional 3,825 shares during the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC increased its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 95.2% in the 2nd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 129,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,912,000 after acquiring an additional 62,993 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Southern First Bancshares by 4.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 66,603 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,193,000 after buying an additional 3,074 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of Southern First Bancshares stock opened at $52.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $431.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50-day moving average of $55.88 and a 200 day moving average of $49.95. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.14 and a 12 month high of $62.00.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.90 million. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 8.63%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 related news, insider Silvia T. King sold 2,625 shares of Southern First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.49, for a total value of $158,786.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,721.87. This trade represents a 39.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David G. Ellison sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.28, for a total value of $53,280.00. Following the sale, the director owned 49,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,645,938.08. This trade represents a 1.97% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 7.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research cut Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Southern First Bancshares from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern First Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

About Southern First Bancshares

Southern First Bancshares is the bank holding company for Southern First Bank, a community-oriented financial institution headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, the company delivers a full spectrum of commercial and consumer banking services designed to meet the needs of small and midsize businesses, professionals, and individual customers. Southern First Bancshares operates under a relationship-driven model, emphasizing personalized service and local decision–making.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking, savings, money market accounts and certificates of deposit, alongside an array of lending solutions covering commercial real estate, construction, equipment financing and small business administration (SBA) loans.