Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Sells $28,248.75 in Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Leighton Cubbage sold 465 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.75, for a total transaction of $28,248.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 48,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,934,225. The trade was a 0.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

Southern First Bancshares stock opened at $63.68 on Friday. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.90 and a fifty-two week high of $65.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $602.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research cut shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 34,910 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,149,000 after buying 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 first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 66,603 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,193,000 after acquiring an additional 3,074 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,637 shares of the bank’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 3,532 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth approximately $303,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in Southern First Bancshares by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 41,850 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares in the last quarter. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.