Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) from "buy" to "hold," although analyst opinions are mixed overall and the consensus rating remains a "Moderate Buy" with a $64.00 price target.
• The bank reported quarterly EPS of $1.19 (missed by $0.01) while revenue of $33.8M beat expectations; the shares trade near $57.73 with a market cap of $476.3M and a P/E of 13.49.
• Insider Silvia T. King sold 2,625 shares in February (cutting her stake by ~39.8%), while institutional investors own about 75% of the stock and insiders about 6.9%.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Zacks Research downgraded Southern First Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Southern First Bancshares from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Southern First Bancshares from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern First Bancshares currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of SFST stock opened at $57.73 on Wednesday. Southern First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $33.12 and a fifty-two week high of $62.00. The stock has a market cap of $476.27 million, a P/E ratio of 13.49 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The bank reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $33.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $33.10 million. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 9.81% and a net margin of 15.21%. On average, analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern First Bancshares

In other news, insider Silvia T. King sold 2,625 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.49, for a total value of $158,786.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 3,963 shares in the company, valued at $239,721.87. This represents a 39.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its position in Southern First Bancshares by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 666 shares of the bank's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Southern First Bancshares during the third quarter valued at $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Southern First Bancshares by 28.7% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,380 shares of the bank's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Southern First Bancshares by 154.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,633 shares of the bank's stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 990 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in Southern First Bancshares by 111.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the bank's stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 903 shares during the period. 75.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.