Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Director William Iv Maner Buys 400 Shares

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director William Iv Maner bought 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $52.35 per share, for a total transaction of $20,940.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 3,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $187,674.75. This represents a 12.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:SFST opened at $52.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $55.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $29.14 and a one year high of $62.00. The company has a market cap of $432.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06 and a beta of 0.75.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFST. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Southern First Bancshares by 2.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 34,910 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 66,603 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,193,000 after purchasing an additional 3,074 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,637 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at about $303,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 180,585 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,870,000 after buying an additional 3,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

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.