Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 120,699 shares, an increase of 47.5% from the February 26th total of 81,851 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 97,320 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern First Bancshares news, insider Silvia T. King sold 2,625 shares of Southern First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.49, for a total value of $158,786.25. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,963 shares in the company, valued at $239,721.87. The trade was a 39.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 7.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFST. Fourthstone LLC raised its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 95.2% during the second quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 129,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,912,000 after buying an additional 62,993 shares during the last quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $1,125,000. Teton Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southern First Bancshares in the third quarter worth approximately $794,000. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 111.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 903 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $231,000. 75.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Southern First Bancshares Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of SFST stock traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $53.48. 42,084 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 99,112. The stock has a market cap of $440.14 million, a PE ratio of 14.30 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Southern First Bancshares has a 12 month low of $29.14 and a 12 month high of $62.00.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.69 million for 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 8.63%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

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.