Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $62.00 and last traded at $61.44, with a volume of 4096 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SFST. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Southern First Bancshares from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.00.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Down 0.1%

The company has a market cap of $501.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.26 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.34.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.90 million. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 8.76%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. Research analysts predict that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Southern First Bancshares

In related news, Director David G. Ellison sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.28, for a total value of $53,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 49,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,645,938.08. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 7.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 431,814 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,052,000 after buying an additional 10,741 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 377,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,460,000 after acquiring an additional 2,329 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Southern First Bancshares by 2.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 180,585 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,870,000 after acquiring an additional 3,825 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 164,986 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,500,000 after acquiring an additional 4,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fourthstone LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 95.2% in 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 period. 75.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern First Bancshares Company 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.