Leighton Cubbage Sells 400 Shares of Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Leighton Cubbage sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $25,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 48,765 shares in the company, valued at $3,072,195. This trade represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Southern First Bancshares stock traded down $0.56 on Tuesday, reaching $60.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 67,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 111,884. The company has a market capitalization of $575.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.53. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.90 and a 52 week high of $65.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SFST. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 666 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 28.7% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,380 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern First Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.00.

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.