Insider Selling: Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Sells $31,395.00 in Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Leighton Cubbage sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.79, for a total transaction of $31,395.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 46,600 shares in the company, valued at $2,926,014. This represents a 1.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Southern First Bancshares stock opened at $63.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $602.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.67. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.90 and a twelve month high of $65.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.64.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.30 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFST. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $50,736,000. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,998,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $5,619,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter worth $5,343,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter worth $3,022,000. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.