Insider Buying: Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Acquires $18,981.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Director Anna Locke bought 300 Southern First Bancshares shares at an average price of $63.27, investing $18,981 and increasing her holdings by 8.33% to 3,902 shares.
• SFST shares rose 0.6% to $63.48, near the company’s 52-week high of $65.09. The stock has a $600.47 million market capitalization and trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60.
• The bank slightly exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $1.20 versus the $1.19 consensus estimate. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with a $64.00 price target, while institutional investors own 75% of the stock.

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) Director Anna Locke acquired 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $63.27 per share, with a total value of $18,981.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,902 shares of the company's stock, valued at $246,879.54. The trade was a 8.33% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:SFST traded up $0.38 on Tuesday, hitting $63.48. The stock had a trading volume of 49,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 110,071. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $62.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.79. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.90 and a 1-year high of $65.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $600.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $50,736,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 380,368 shares of the bank's stock valued at $20,730,000 after buying an additional 2,657 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $10,998,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 17.7% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 150,607 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,208,000 after buying an additional 22,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the second quarter worth approximately $5,619,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a report on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research cut shares of Southern First Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.00.

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.

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