Leighton Cubbage Sells 465 Shares of Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Leighton Cubbage sold 465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.75, for a total transaction of $28,248.75. Following the transaction, the director owned 48,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,934,225. This represents a 0.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SFST opened at $63.68 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $602.09 million, a PE ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.90 and a twelve month high of $65.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.64.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $50,736,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 431,814 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,052,000 after purchasing an additional 10,741 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 380,368 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,730,000 after purchasing an additional 2,657 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $10,998,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 164,986 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,500,000 after purchasing an additional 4,302 shares during the last quarter. 75.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.