Insider Selling: Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) CAO Sells $94,500.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Southern First Bancshares’ CAO Julie Ann Fairchild sold 1,500 shares for $94,500, reducing her holdings by 22.39% to 5,200 shares.
• SFST shares traded at $64.62, near their 12-month high of $64.97, while the company’s latest quarterly EPS of $1.20 slightly exceeded analyst expectations.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with a consensus “Buy” rating and a $64 price target; institutional investors own approximately 75% of the company.

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) CAO Julie Ann Fairchild sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $94,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 5,200 shares in the company, valued at $327,600. This represents a 22.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Southern First Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ SFST traded up $1.18 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $64.62. 53,234 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 112,972. The company has a market capitalization of $611.35 million, a P/E ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.60 and a 12-month high of $64.97.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $20.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.30 million. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 10.76% and a net margin of 16.78%. As a group, analysts predict that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern First Bancshares from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern First Bancshares has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SFST. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Southern First Bancshares by 2.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 431,814 shares of the bank's stock worth $19,052,000 after buying an additional 10,741 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Southern First Bancshares by 0.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 380,368 shares of the bank's stock valued at $20,730,000 after acquiring an additional 2,657 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $10,998,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 164,986 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,500,000 after acquiring an additional 4,302 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 150,607 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,208,000 after acquiring an additional 22,700 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.

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