Insider Selling: Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Sells 800 Shares of Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Leighton Cubbage sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.02, for a total value of $50,416.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 49,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,145,643.30. This represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Southern First Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ SFST traded down $0.17 on Monday, reaching $62.86. 67,403 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 112,374. The stock has a market cap of $594.66 million, a PE ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 0.68. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.90 and a 12 month high of $65.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SFST shares. Zacks Research cut Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut Southern First Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $64.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFST. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.6% during 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. grew its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 4.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 66,603 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,193,000 after purchasing an additional 3,074 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased 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 valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at about $303,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in Southern First Bancshares by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 41,850 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.