Walleye Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 179,992 Southern First Bancshares, Inc. $SFST

Key Points

• Walleye Capital acquired 179,992 shares of Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter, worth approximately $11.0 million and representing about 1.9% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 75% of SFST.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and a $64 price target; ratings include one Strong Buy and two Buys. The bank also slightly beat quarterly earnings estimates with EPS of $1.20 versus the $1.19 consensus.
• SFST shares opened at $64.18, near their 52-week high of $65.09. Meanwhile, insiders sold 2,518 shares worth roughly $155,857 over the past three months.

Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 179,992 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $10,998,000. Walleye Capital LLC owned approximately 1.90% of Southern First Bancshares as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SFST. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 666 shares of the bank's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Southern First Bancshares by 28.7% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,380 shares of the bank's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 990 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern First Bancshares from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Southern First Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Julie Ann Fairchild sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $94,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $327,600. This trade represents a 22.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 765 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.60, for a total value of $46,359.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 50,715 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,073,329. The trade was a 1.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 2,518 shares of company stock valued at $155,857 over the last three months. 6.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ SFST opened at $64.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $607.14 million, a P/E ratio of 13.74 and a beta of 0.68. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.90 and a 1 year high of $65.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.06.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $20.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.30 million. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 16.78%. Research analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern First Bancshares 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.

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