Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Leighton Cubbage Sells 500 Shares

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Leighton Cubbage sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.79, for a total transaction of $31,395.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 46,600 shares in the company, valued at $2,926,014. This represents a 1.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:SFST opened at $62.89 on Friday. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.90 and a fifty-two week high of $65.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.61. The company has a market cap of $594.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 0.67.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.01. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 16.78%.The company had revenue of $20.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.30 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern First Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.00.

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 1,478.2% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 6,660 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 6,238 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $557,000. Sheets Smith Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 19,639 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,200,000 after buying an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $677,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,022,000. 75.00% of the stock is currently 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.