Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Up 4.2 %

Southern First Bancshares stock opened at $29.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.68 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Southern First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $22.70 and a fifty-two week high of $39.36.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.07). Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 4.30% and a net margin of 6.69%. The firm had revenue of $21.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.38 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 1,771 shares of Southern First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.34, for a total transaction of $48,419.14. Following the transaction, the director now owns 62,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,713,233.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern First Bancshares news, CEO R Arthur Seaver, Jr. sold 996 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.25, for a total transaction of $31,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 83,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,608,437.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 1,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.34, for a total value of $48,419.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,664 shares in the company, valued at $1,713,233.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,664 shares of company stock worth $196,146 over the last ninety days. 7.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Southern First Bancshares by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 413,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,125,000 after acquiring an additional 16,012 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 151,436 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,618,000 after purchasing an additional 32,621 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Southern First Bancshares by 1.3% in the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 139,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 61,800 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,293,000 after buying an additional 8,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Southern First Bancshares by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 54,457 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,728,000 after buying an additional 14,545 shares in the last quarter. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Southern First Bancshares

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.