Silvia King Sells 2,625 Shares of Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) insider Silvia King sold 2,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.49, for a total value of $158,786.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 3,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,721.87. This trade represents a 39.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of SFST opened at $55.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $459.56 million, a PE ratio of 14.93 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $55.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.14 and a 12-month high of $62.00.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.10. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 8.63%. The company had revenue of $1.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on SFST. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Southern First Bancshares from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fourthstone LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 95.2% during the second quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 129,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,912,000 after purchasing an additional 62,993 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Southern First Bancshares by 215.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 50,451 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,599,000 after buying an additional 34,466 shares in the last quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,125,000. Informed Momentum Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $1,106,000. Finally, Teton Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $794,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.