25,500 Shares in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. $SFST Acquired by Maltese Capital Management LLC

Maltese Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 25,500 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,125,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 28.7% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,380 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 154.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,633 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 990 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 111.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $156,000. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Southern First Bancshares from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern First Bancshares has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.00.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

Southern First Bancshares stock opened at $52.20 on Tuesday. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.14 and a 12-month high of $62.00. 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 company has a market capitalization of $429.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $55.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.40.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.69 million during 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Southern First Bancshares

In related news, insider Silvia T. King sold 2,625 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 3,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,721.87. This represents a 39.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 7.06% 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.