Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on SFST. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Southern First Bancshares from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern First Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.00.

Southern First Bancshares Price Performance

SFST opened at $53.87 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.96. 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 has a 1 year low of $29.14 and a 1 year high of $62.00. The firm has a market cap of $443.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.40 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern First Bancshares

In other news, insider Silvia T. King sold 2,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.49, for a total transaction of $158,786.25. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,721.87. The trade was a 39.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Southern First Bancshares by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 34,910 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 66,603 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,193,000 after purchasing an additional 3,074 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,637 shares of the bank’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth about $303,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 180,585 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,870,000 after purchasing an additional 3,825 shares in 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.