Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Insider Sells $158,786.25 in Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) insider Silvia King sold 2,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.49, for a total transaction of $158,786.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,721.87. This trade represents a 39.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Southern First Bancshares Price Performance

SFST stock traded down $3.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $57.06. 34,008 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,686. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $469.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $55.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.42. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.14 and a 12 month high of $62.00.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.90 million. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.63% and a net margin of 13.52%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,959 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,286,000 after acquiring an additional 2,358 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management grew its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 19.7% in 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. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP bought a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Azora Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $645,000. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 54,352 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,800,000 after purchasing an additional 2,358 shares during the last quarter. 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.