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

Key Points

• Director Leighton Cubbage sold 1,200 SFST shares at an average price of $62.26, generating $74,712. He retained 47,100 shares after the transaction, a 2.48% reduction in his ownership.
• Southern First Bancshares shares traded at $62.89, near their 52-week high of $65.09. The bank recently reported quarterly EPS of $1.20, slightly exceeding analysts’ $1.19 estimate.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 75% of the stock. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with a $64.00 average price target.

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) Director Leighton Cubbage sold 1,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.26, for a total value of $74,712.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 47,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,932,446. This trade represents a 2.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of Southern First Bancshares stock traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $62.89. The company had a trading volume of 73,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 111,501. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.90 and a 1-year high of $65.09. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $62.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.57. The stock has a market cap of $594.94 million, a PE ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) last released its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $36.30 million. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 10.18%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SFST. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,736,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 2.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 431,814 shares of the bank's stock worth $19,052,000 after acquiring an additional 10,741 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake 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 worth $20,730,000 after acquiring an additional 2,657 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $10,998,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 164,986 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,500,000 after purchasing an additional 4,302 shares in the last quarter. 75.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research cut Southern First Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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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