Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Sells $48,419.14 in Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 1,771 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.34, for a total value of $48,419.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 62,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,713,233.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of SFST traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $27.83. The stock had a trading volume of 6,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,593. The company has a market cap of $227.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97 and a beta of 0.82. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $28.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.80. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.70 and a 1-year high of $39.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.07). Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 4.30% and a net margin of 6.69%. The business had revenue of $21.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.38 million. Equities research analysts expect that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised Southern First Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SFST. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $809,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 212.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 32,479 shares of the bank's stock valued at $875,000 after buying an additional 22,070 shares during the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $209,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 19,140 shares of the bank's stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Southern First Bancshares by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 61,800 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,293,000 after acquiring an additional 8,938 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.00% of the company's stock.

About Southern First Bancshares

Southern First Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Southern First Bank that provides commercial, consumer, and mortgage loans to the general public in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. The company accepts various deposit products that include checking accounts, commercial checking accounts, and savings accounts, as well as other time deposits, including daily money market accounts and long-term certificates of deposit.