Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday morning.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research cut Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Southern First Bancshares from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.00.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of SFST opened at $58.53 on Monday. Southern First Bancshares has a twelve month low of $30.12 and a twelve month high of $62.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $482.76 million, a P/E ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.79.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.90 million. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.63% and a net margin of 13.52%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Southern First Bancshares

In other Southern First Bancshares news, insider Silvia T. King sold 2,625 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.49, for a total transaction of $158,786.25. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,963 shares in the company, valued at $239,721.87. The trade was a 39.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 7.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 666 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.9% during the second quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 9,458 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 28.7% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,380 shares of the bank’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.4% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,754 shares of the bank’s stock worth $730,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $38,000. 75.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.