The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New Investment in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. $SFST

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 87,448 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $5,343,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 40.2% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 666 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted 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 grew its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 154.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,633 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Down 1.5%

Southern First Bancshares stock opened at $61.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $580.37 million, a P/E ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 0.68. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.90 and a 52 week high of $65.09.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research cut Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.02, for a total transaction of $50,416.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 49,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,145,643.30. The trade was a 1.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Julie Ann Fairchild sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $94,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $327,600. This trade represents a 22.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 4,068 shares of company stock worth $253,540 over the last three months. 6.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Southern First Bancshares 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.