Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern First Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.00.

Southern First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of Southern First Bancshares stock opened at $54.94 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $53.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.23. Southern First Bancshares has a one year low of $29.14 and a one year high of $58.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $449.96 million, a P/E ratio of 14.69 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.10. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 13.52%.The company had revenue of $1.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Southern First Bancshares news, Director David G. Ellison sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.28, for a total value of $53,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 49,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,645,938.08. This represents a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 7.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $115,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 26.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,760 shares of the bank’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 45.6% during the third quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the bank’s stock worth $659,000 after buying an additional 4,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $457,000. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern First Bancshares Company Profile

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.