Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Southern First Bancshares from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.00.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of Southern First Bancshares stock opened at $48.67 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $44.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.84. Southern First Bancshares has a 1 year low of $29.14 and a 1 year high of $49.08. The firm has a market cap of $398.56 million, a PE ratio of 15.07 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The bank reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $31.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.20 million. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 7.74%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SFST. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Southern First Bancshares by 28.7% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,380 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 154.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,633 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 111.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $231,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

About Southern First Bancshares

Southern First Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Southern First Bank that provides commercial, consumer, and mortgage loans to the general public in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. The company accepts various deposit products that include checking accounts, commercial checking accounts, and savings accounts, as well as other time deposits, including daily money market accounts and long-term certificates of deposit.