18,000 Shares in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. $SFST Acquired by Teton Advisors LLC

Teton Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 18,000 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $794,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 28.7% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 154.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,633 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $75,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 111.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $231,000. 75.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Down 2.4%

Southern First Bancshares stock opened at $52.46 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $431.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $55.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.95. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.14 and a twelve month high of $62.00.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.69 million for 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 last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Southern First Bancshares

In related news, insider Silvia T. King sold 2,625 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 3,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,721.87. This 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 at this link. Also, Director David G. Ellison sold 1,000 shares of Southern First Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.28, for a total value of $53,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 49,661 shares in the company, valued at $2,645,938.08. This represents a 1.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 7.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SFST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Southern First Bancshares from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. 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 reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern First Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.00.

Southern First Bancshares 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.