Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on SFST. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $51.00.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ SFST opened at $50.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $416.82 million, a P/E ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 0.85. Southern First Bancshares has a 12 month low of $29.14 and a 12 month high of $52.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of $45.51 and a 200-day moving average of $42.26.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,974 shares of the bank’s stock worth $26,434,000 after acquiring an additional 5,931 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the first quarter worth $448,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 4.0% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 101,461 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,340,000 after purchasing an additional 3,902 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $654,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at $616,000. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.