Leighton Cubbage Sells 1,200 Shares of Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Leighton Cubbage sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total transaction of $74,712.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 47,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,932,446. The trade was a 2.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of SFST stock opened at $63.68 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.64. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.90 and a 52 week high of $65.09. The stock has a market cap of $602.09 million, a P/E ratio of 13.64 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $20.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.30 million. Analysts predict that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 40.2% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 666 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Southern First Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 28.7% in 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. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 154.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,633 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 990 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.00% of the company’s stock.

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.