Anna Locke Buys 300 Shares of Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Anna Locke bought 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $63.27 per share, for a total transaction of $18,981.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 3,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,879.54. This trade represents a 8.33% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of SFST stock opened at $61.28 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $62.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.81. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.90 and a 52 week high of $65.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $579.71 million, a PE ratio of 13.12 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $20.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.30 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on SFST shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research cut Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern First Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 37.6% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 16,707 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 4,564 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $557,000. Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its position in Southern First Bancshares by 2.3% during the second quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 19,639 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC bought a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at about $677,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter worth about $3,022,000. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Southern First Bancshares

Southern First Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Southern First Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and professional organizations.

Southern First Bank offers a range of deposit products, commercial and consumer loans, residential mortgage lending, treasury management and online and mobile banking services. Its lending activities include commercial real estate, business, construction, residential and consumer loans, while its deposit offerings include checking, savings and money market accounts, certificates of deposit and other related products.

Founded in 1999, Southern First has built a community-banking presence in markets across South Carolina and North Carolina, including the Greenville, Columbia and Charleston areas and the Charlotte and Raleigh markets.