Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The bank reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.01, FiscalAI reports. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 10.76%. The business had revenue of $20.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.30 million.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Down 2.2%

Southern First Bancshares stock opened at $60.34 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Southern First Bancshares has a 12 month low of $38.30 and a 12 month high of $64.06. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.03. The firm has a market cap of $570.82 million, a PE ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.67.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SFST shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern First Bancshares

In other news, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 765 shares of Southern First Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.60, for a total transaction of $46,359.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 50,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,073,329. The trade was a 1.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 215.6% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 50,451 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,599,000 after acquiring an additional 34,466 shares in the last quarter. Informed Momentum Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,106,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth about $756,000. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $640,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in Southern First Bancshares by 142.6% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 20,784 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,071,000 after purchasing an additional 12,218 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

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.