Penn Capital Management Company LLC Makes New Investment in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. $SFST

Penn Capital Management Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 11,080 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $677,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SFST. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter worth about $3,022,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,786,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,619,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,343,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Julie Ann Fairchild sold 1,500 shares of Southern First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $94,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,200 shares in the company, valued at $327,600. This trade represents a 22.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 800 shares of Southern First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.02, for a total transaction of $50,416.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 49,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,145,643.30. This trade represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 4,068 shares of company stock valued at $253,540 over the last 90 days. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Up 0.1%

Southern First Bancshares stock 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. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.90 and a 12 month high of $65.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last announced its 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. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 16.78%.The firm had revenue of $20.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.30 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.