Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on SFST. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of 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 raised shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern First Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Down 0.1%

SFST opened at $56.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. Southern First Bancshares has a one year low of $33.00 and a one year high of $62.00. The company has a market cap of $467.36 million, a P/E ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.41.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The bank reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $33.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $33.10 million. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.81% and a net margin of 15.21%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southern First Bancshares will post 5.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Southern First Bancshares

In other Southern First Bancshares news, insider Silvia T. King sold 2,625 shares of Southern First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.49, for a total value of $158,786.25. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,721.87. The trade was a 39.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 7.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 89.2% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,495 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,335,000 after purchasing an additional 11,545 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 17.7% during the first quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 19,204 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,883 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,959 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 56,985 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,936,000 after purchasing an additional 9,377 shares during the period. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $220,000. 75.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern First Bancshares Company Profile

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.