Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

SFST has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, November 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.00.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

SFST stock opened at $52.21 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $427.60 million, a P/E ratio of 16.16 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.31.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The bank reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.18. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 7.63%. The firm had revenue of $31.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.20 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Southern First Bancshares

In other 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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have bought a total of 525 shares of company stock worth $23,011 in the last three months. 7.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SFST. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 890 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 66,603 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,193,000 after buying an additional 3,074 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,637 shares of the bank’s stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 3,532 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in Southern First Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $303,000. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at $448,000. 75.00% of the stock is 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.