Weiss Ratings Reiterates Hold (C+) Rating for Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reiterated a "hold (C+)" rating for Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST), indicating a neutral outlook for the stock.
• Piper Sandler raised the target price for SFST from $43.00 to $51.00 and assigned an "overweight" rating, while Zacks Research downgraded the stock to a "hold" rating.
• Southern First Bancshares reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.81, surpassing the consensus estimate, with a revenue of $28.63 million for the period.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c+)" rating restated by research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research note issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on SFST. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Southern First Bancshares from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Southern First Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $51.00.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Performance

SFST opened at $43.18 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $353.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99 and a beta of 0.81. The company's 50 day moving average is $43.60 and its 200 day moving average is $38.79. Southern First Bancshares has a 12-month low of $29.14 and a 12-month high of $46.40.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.16. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 6.52%. The company had revenue of $28.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.80 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Southern First Bancshares by 9,638.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,012 shares of the bank's stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 6,940 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,974 shares of the bank's stock valued at $26,434,000 after buying an additional 5,931 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at about $448,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Southern First Bancshares by 4.0% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 101,461 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,340,000 after acquiring an additional 3,902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the first quarter worth about $616,000. Institutional investors 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.

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