Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.00.

Southern First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of SFST opened at $55.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $456.18 million, a PE ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 0.74. Southern First Bancshares has a 12-month low of $29.14 and a 12-month high of $56.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.13.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The bank reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.18. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.63% 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. Analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David G. Ellison sold 1,000 shares of Southern First Bancshares stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director owned 49,661 shares in the company, valued at $2,645,938.08. The trade was a 1.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders purchased a total of 525 shares of company stock worth $23,011 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 7.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Southern First Bancshares by 154.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,633 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $75,000. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 111.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

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.