Leighton Cubbage Sells 350 Shares of Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Leighton Cubbage sold 350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.05, for a total transaction of $22,067.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 49,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,099,853.25. This represents a 0.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:SFST opened at $62.26 on Friday. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.90 and a 12 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 stock has a market capitalization of $588.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.51.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $20.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.30 million. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 10.18%. Analysts expect that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SFST shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern First Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 40.2% during the fourth 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 lifted its position in Southern First Bancshares by 2.9% in the 2nd 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 lifted its position in Southern First Bancshares by 28.7% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,380 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management boosted its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 19,639 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.