Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) CAO Julie Ann Fairchild Sells 1,500 Shares

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) CAO Julie Ann Fairchild sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $94,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $327,600. This represents a 22.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:SFST opened at $64.12 on Wednesday. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.60 and a 52-week high of $64.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $606.58 million, a P/E ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $20.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.30 million. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 10.76%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SFST. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Zacks Research raised Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $64.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFST. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,998,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,143 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 957 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 78.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,201 shares of the bank’s stock worth $992,000 after buying an additional 7,985 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the first quarter worth $398,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Southern First Bancshares by 9.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 27,241 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,485,000 after acquiring an additional 2,282 shares during the last quarter. 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.