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

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) from "buy" to "hold"; analyst views are mixed but MarketBeat's consensus remains a Moderate Buy with a $64.00 price target.
• Recent quarter EPS beat: the bank reported $1.21 EPS versus $1.11 expected and analysts forecast about 1.85 EPS for the year, while the stock trades near $58 with a market cap of roughly $482 million.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Monday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on SFST. Zacks Research cut shares of Southern First Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Southern First Bancshares from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern First Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Southern First Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SFST opened at $58.41 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $481.88 million, a PE ratio of 15.62 and a beta of 0.74. Southern First Bancshares has a twelve month low of $30.00 and a twelve month high of $62.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $56.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.70.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.90 million. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 8.63%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern First Bancshares news, insider Silvia T. King sold 2,625 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.49, for a total transaction of $158,786.25. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,721.87. This represents a 39.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.06% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 2.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 34,910 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,149,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 4.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 66,603 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,193,000 after purchasing an additional 3,074 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 23.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,637 shares of the bank's stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 3,532 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the first quarter valued at $303,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 14.2% in the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 41,850 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares in the last quarter. 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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