Key Points
- Director William Iv Maner bought 400 shares on March 6 at an average price of $52.35 (totaling $20,940), increasing his direct stake to 3,585 shares — a 12.56% ownership rise.
- Southern First beat quarterly EPS estimates (reported $1.21 vs. $1.11 expected), has a market cap of about $432.9M, roughly 75% institutional ownership, and an average analyst target near $64 after recent upgrades.
Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) Director William Iv Maner purchased 400 shares of Southern First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $52.35 per share, for a total transaction of $20,940.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,585 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $187,674.75. The trade was a 12.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.
Southern First Bancshares Trading Up 0.3%
Shares of SFST opened at $52.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $432.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.14 and a fifty-two week high of $62.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $55.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.14.
Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.10. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 8.63%. The company had revenue of $1.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fourthstone LLC increased its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 95.2% in the second quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 129,174 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,912,000 after acquiring an additional 62,993 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 215.6% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 50,451 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,599,000 after purchasing an additional 34,466 shares during the period. Maltese Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $1,125,000. Informed Momentum Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $1,106,000. Finally, Teton Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $794,000. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
SFST has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Southern First Bancshares from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Southern First Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $64.00.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on SFST
About Southern First Bancshares
(
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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