Insider Selling: Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Sells $22,067.50 in Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Leighton Cubbage sold 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.05, for a total transaction of $22,067.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 49,165 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,099,853.25. This trade represents a 0.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of SFST opened at $62.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $588.98 million, a PE ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s fifty day moving average is $62.03 and its 200 day moving average is $58.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.90 and a fifty-two week high of $65.09.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFST has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $10,998,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Southern First Bancshares by 147.3% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 34,706 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,891,000 after purchasing an additional 20,673 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $992,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 17.7% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 150,607 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,208,000 after purchasing an additional 22,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 60,578 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,121,000 after purchasing an additional 17,228 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

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.