Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Rating Lowered to Hold at Zacks Research

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.00.

Southern First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of SFST stock opened at $63.03 on Thursday. Southern First Bancshares has a twelve month low of $40.90 and a twelve month high of $65.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $596.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern First Bancshares news, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 765 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.60, for a total transaction of $46,359.00. Following the sale, the director owned 50,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,073,329. This trade represents a 1.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Julie Ann Fairchild sold 1,500 shares of Southern First Bancshares 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 5,200 shares in the company, valued at $327,600. This represents a 22.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,518 shares of company stock valued at $155,857. 6.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at about $50,736,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 431,814 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,052,000 after buying an additional 10,741 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 0.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 380,368 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,730,000 after buying an additional 2,657 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,998,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 4,302 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

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.