Insider Selling: Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Sells 400 Shares of Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Leighton Cubbage sold 400 shares of Southern First Bancshares stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $25,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 49,515 shares in the company, valued at $3,119,445. This represents a 0.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Southern First Bancshares stock traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $62.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 54,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 112,163. The stock has a market cap of $588.55 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.68. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.90 and a twelve month high of $65.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $61.86 and a 200-day moving average of $58.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $20.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.30 million. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 10.18%. Research analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 666 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 2.9% in the second quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 9,458 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 28.7% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,380 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.3% during the second quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 19,639 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on SFST. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research cut Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.00.

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.