Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Upgraded to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) from "hold" to "buy," joining recent analyst upgrades and leaving a MarketBeat consensus of Moderate Buy with a consensus target price of $64.
• Southern First beat expectations on its Jan. 22 report with $1.21 EPS vs. $1.11 expected; the stock trades at a P/E of 15, with a market cap of about $463M and a 1-year range of $31.52–$62.00.
• Insider Silvia T. King sold 2,625 shares at about $60.49 on Feb. 26, cutting her position by ~39.85%; insiders own ~7.06% of the stock while institutional ownership is roughly 75%.

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

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Southern First Bancshares from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Southern First Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $64.00.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

Southern First Bancshares stock opened at $56.11 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $55.91 and a 200-day moving average of $52.26. The firm has a market cap of $462.91 million, a P/E ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 0.74. Southern First Bancshares has a 1-year low of $31.52 and a 1-year high of $62.00.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The bank reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.10. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 8.63%. The company had revenue of $1.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern First Bancshares will post 5.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Southern First Bancshares

In other news, insider Silvia T. King sold 2,625 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.49, for a total transaction of $158,786.25. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 3,963 shares in the company, valued at $239,721.87. This trade represents a 39.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 7.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SFST. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 40.2% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 666 shares of the bank's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 28.7% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,380 shares of the bank's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 154.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,633 shares of the bank's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $75,000. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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