Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Leighton Cubbage Sells 350 Shares of Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Leighton Cubbage sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.05, for a total transaction of $22,067.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 49,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,099,853.25. This trade represents a 0.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

SFST stock opened at $62.19 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $588.32 million, a PE ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.68. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.90 and a 12-month high of $65.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.49.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.01. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 16.78%.The company had revenue of $20.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.30 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SFST. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research cut Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.00.

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SFST. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 666 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in Southern First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter worth about $54,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $75,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised 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 valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

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.