Key Points
- Insider sale: Silvia King sold 2,625 shares on Feb. 26 at an average price of $60.49 for $158,786.25, cutting her stake by 39.85% to 3,963 shares; the sale was disclosed on an SEC Form 4.
- Stock and recent results: SFST opened at $55.84, trades in a 12‑month range of $29.14–$62.00 with a $459.6M market cap and 14.93 P/E, and reported quarterly EPS of $1.21 versus $1.11 expected.
- Analyst view and ownership: Analysts are mixed (average rating "Hold" with an average target of $64 and Piper Sandler overweight), and institutional investors own roughly 75% of the stock with several funds recently increasing positions.
Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) insider Silvia King sold 2,625 shares of the business'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 value 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. The trade was a 39.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.
Southern First Bancshares Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ SFST opened at $55.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $459.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93 and a beta of 0.77. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $55.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.52. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $29.14 and a 12 month high of $62.00.
Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Southern First Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Southern First Bancshares from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Southern First Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $64.00.
Read Our Latest Analysis on SFST
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fourthstone LLC boosted its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 95.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 129,174 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,912,000 after purchasing an additional 62,993 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 215.6% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 50,451 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,599,000 after buying an additional 34,466 shares in the last quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $1,125,000. Informed Momentum Co LLC acquired a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $1,106,000. Finally, Teton Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $794,000. 75.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Southern First Bancshares Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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