Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Trading Down 3.2% – Should You Sell?

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST)’s stock price traded down 3.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $60.67 and last traded at $61.4670. 4,805 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 96% from the average daily volume of 110,532 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.52.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on SFST. 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.00.

Southern First Bancshares Price Performance

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 fifty day moving average price is $62.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.81. The stock has a market cap of $588.74 million, a P/E ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 0.67.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $20.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.30 million. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 10.18%. Analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Julie Fairchild sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $94,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $327,600. This trade represents a 22.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $74,712.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 47,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,932,446. This represents a 2.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,868 shares of company stock valued at $366,737. Insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFST. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $50,736,000. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at about $10,998,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter worth about $5,619,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter worth about $5,343,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter worth about $3,022,000. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern First Bancshares Company Profile

Southern First Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Southern First Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and professional organizations.

Southern First Bank offers a range of deposit products, commercial and consumer loans, residential mortgage lending, treasury management and online and mobile banking services. Its lending activities include commercial real estate, business, construction, residential and consumer loans, while its deposit offerings include checking, savings and money market accounts, certificates of deposit and other related products.

Founded in 1999, Southern First has built a community-banking presence in markets across South Carolina and North Carolina, including the Greenville, Columbia and Charleston areas and the Charlotte and Raleigh markets.