Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Insider Silvia King Sells 2,625 Shares

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) insider Silvia King sold 2,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 3,963 shares in the company, valued at $239,721.87. This trade represents a 39.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Down 5.9%

Southern First Bancshares stock traded down $3.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $57.06. The stock had a trading volume of 34,008 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,686. The company has a market capitalization of $469.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $29.14 and a one year high of $62.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $55.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.42.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates 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 previous year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 666 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the third quarter worth $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 28.7% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,380 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 154.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,633 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the second quarter worth $75,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research lowered Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Piper Sandler increased 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. One 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.00.

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.