Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Upgraded to Buy 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 issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on SFST. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Southern First Bancshares from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated 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 Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Up 5.1%

SFST opened at $46.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $381.77 million, a PE ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $43.94 and its 200-day moving average is $40.59. Southern First Bancshares has a one year low of $29.14 and a one year high of $46.62.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.18. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 11.83%.The firm had revenue of $31.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.20 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SFST. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $26,434,000 after purchasing an additional 5,931 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 431,814 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,052,000 after buying an additional 10,741 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 180,585 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,870,000 after buying an additional 3,825 shares during the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 95.2% during the 2nd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 129,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,912,000 after acquiring an additional 62,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 101,461 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,340,000 after acquiring an additional 3,902 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

Southern First Bancshares Company Profile

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.