Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Sunday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research cut Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.00.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Down 8.1%

Shares of SFST opened at $54.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.65. Southern First Bancshares has a 52 week low of $29.14 and a 52 week high of $58.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $442.34 million, a P/E ratio of 14.44 and a beta of 0.74.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $1.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.90 million. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 13.52%.During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Southern First Bancshares

In related news, Director David G. Ellison sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.28, for a total value of $53,280.00. Following the sale, the director owned 49,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,645,938.08. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 525 shares of company stock worth $23,011. 7.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFST. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 28.7% during the 2nd 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 boosted its position 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 buying an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 111.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $75,000. 75.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.