Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning.

SFST has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective 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. Zacks Research cut shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern First Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Southern First Bancshares stock opened at $58.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $485.68 million, a PE ratio of 15.74 and a beta of 0.74. Southern First Bancshares has a 52-week low of $30.66 and a 52-week high of $62.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.94.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern First Bancshares news, insider Silvia T. King sold 2,625 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider directly owned 3,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,721.87. This represents a 39.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Maltese Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,125,000. Teton Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $794,000. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 3.6% during the third quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 43,350 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,913,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 666 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 29,400 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,515,000 after purchasing an additional 3,900 shares during the period. 75.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.