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

Key Points

• Director Leighton Cubbage sold 800 SFST shares at an average price of $63.02, generating $50,416. After the transaction, he retained 49,915 shares worth approximately $3.15 million.
• Southern First Bancshares reported quarterly EPS of $1.20, slightly exceeding the $1.19 consensus estimate, while revenue came in at $20.4 million. The stock recently traded near $62.86, close to analysts’ average price target of $64.
• Institutional investors own approximately 75% of the company, with BlackRock, Vanguard, Dimensional Fund Advisors and others holding significant positions. Analyst sentiment remains moderately bullish, though some firms recently downgraded the shares to “hold.”

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) Director Leighton Cubbage sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.02, for a total transaction of $50,416.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 49,915 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,145,643.30. The trade was a 1.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Southern First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of SFST stock traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $62.86. The stock had a trading volume of 67,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 112,374. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $61.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.39. The firm has a market capitalization 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 company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $20.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.30 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $50,736,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Southern First Bancshares by 2.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 431,814 shares of the bank's stock valued at $19,052,000 after purchasing an additional 10,741 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised 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 purchasing an additional 2,657 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in Southern First Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $10,998,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 164,986 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,500,000 after purchasing an additional 4,302 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFST has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Southern First Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern First Bancshares from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $64.00.

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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