Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Purchases $18,981.00 in Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Anna Locke acquired 300 shares of Southern First Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $63.27 per share, with a total value of $18,981.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,902 shares in the company, valued at $246,879.54. This represents a 8.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:SFST opened at $61.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.86. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.90 and a 12-month high of $65.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $584.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.24 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 666 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 19,639 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,143 shares of the bank’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Southern First Bancshares

Southern First Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Southern First Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and professional organizations.

Southern First Bank offers a range of deposit products, commercial and consumer loans, residential mortgage lending, treasury management and online and mobile banking services. Its lending activities include commercial real estate, business, construction, residential and consumer loans, while its deposit offerings include checking, savings and money market accounts, certificates of deposit and other related products.

Founded in 1999, Southern First has built a community-banking presence in markets across South Carolina and North Carolina, including the Greenville, Columbia and Charleston areas and the Charlotte and Raleigh markets.