Leighton Cubbage Sells 400 Shares of Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Leighton Cubbage sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $25,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 48,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,072,195. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of SFST stock opened at $62.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $591.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $62.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.57. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.90 and a 12 month high of $65.09.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.01. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The business had revenue of $20.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.30 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFST has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research cut shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern First Bancshares has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $64.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 2.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 34,910 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,149,000 after acquiring an additional 890 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Southern First Bancshares by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 66,603 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,193,000 after purchasing an additional 3,074 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,637 shares of the bank’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth approximately $303,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 41,850 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares during the last quarter. 75.00% of the stock is currently 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.