Southern First Bancshares, Inc. $SFST Shares Sold by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) by 64.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,899 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 10,855 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Southern First Bancshares were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the third quarter worth $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 28.7% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,380 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 111.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in 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

SFST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Southern First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. 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 note on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research cut Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Southern First Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern First Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern First Bancshares

In related news, insider Silvia T. King sold 2,625 shares of Southern First Bancshares 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 3,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.06% of the company’s stock.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ SFST opened at $58.53 on Tuesday. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.12 and a twelve month high of $62.00. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $56.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $482.76 million, a PE ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 0.74.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last issued 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. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.63% and a net margin of 13.52%.The business had revenue of $1.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

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.