Southern First Bancshares (SFST) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Southern First Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and professional organizations.

Southern First Bank offers a range of deposit products, commercial and consumer loans, residential mortgage lending, treasury management and online and mobile banking services. Its lending activities include commercial real estate, business, construction, residential and consumer loans, while its deposit offerings include checking, savings and money market accounts, certificates of deposit and other related products.

Founded in 1999, Southern First has built a community-banking presence in markets across South Carolina and North Carolina, including the Greenville, Columbia and Charleston areas and the Charlotte and Raleigh markets. The bank emphasizes relationship-based service and works with businesses and individuals through local banking teams. The company is led by President and Chief Executive Officer R. Arthur Seibert Jr.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $59.73 to $60.86
• 50-Day Range: $59.85 to $64.60
• 52-Week Range: $40.90 to $65.09
• Volume: 83,438 shs
• Average Volume: 88,570 shs
• Market Capitalization: $573.47 million
• P/E Ratio: 12.98
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Price Target: $64.00
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Southern First Bancshares Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Southern First Bancshares scored higher than 65% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 473rd out of 854 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.2 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Southern First Bancshares has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.67, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 2 buy ratings, 1 hold rating, and no sell ratings.

Upside/Downside

The consensus price target for Southern First Bancshares is close to its current price, suggesting limited near-term upside or downside.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Southern First Bancshares has only been the subject of 2 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 3.1 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 22.22%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Southern First Bancshares are expected to grow by 22.22% in the coming year, from $5.40 to $6.60 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Southern First Bancshares is 12.98, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 44.64.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Southern First Bancshares is 12.98, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 24.57.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Southern First Bancshares has a P/B Ratio of 1.35. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 2.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

4.70% of the float of Southern First Bancshares has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Southern First Bancshares has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 5.08.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Southern First Bancshares has recently increased by 12.20%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 0.0 / 5
• Dividend Strength: N/A

Dividend Yield

Southern First Bancshares does not currently pay a dividend.

Dividend Growth

Southern First Bancshares does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• News Sentiment: N/A

News Sentiment

Southern First Bancshares has a news sentiment score of 1.79. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.70 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 1 news article for Southern First Bancshares this week, compared to 1 article on an average week.

Company Ownership

• Score: 2.4 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Southern First Bancshares insiders have sold 1,753.11% more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $18,981.00 in company stock and sold $351,739.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

6.90% of the stock of Southern First Bancshares is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

75.00% of the stock of Southern First Bancshares is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 7/21/2026
• Today: 9/26/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 10/27/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: Banks
• Sub-Industry: Regional Banks
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:SFST
• CIK: 1090009
• Web: www.southernfirst.com
• Phone: (864) 679-9000
• Fax: 864-679-9099
• Employees: 315
• Year Founded: 1999

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Southern First Bancshares: $64.00
• High Price Target: $64.00
• Low Price Target: $64.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +5.6%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.67
• Research Coverage: 3 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $4.67
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 12.98
• Forward P/E Ratio: 11.23
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $30.37 million
• Net Margins: 16.78%
• Pretax Margin: 21.63%
• Return on Equity: 10.18%
• Return on Assets: 0.88%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.03
• Current Ratio: 1.04
• Quick Ratio: 1.04

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $224.62 million
• Price / Sales: 2.55
• Cash Flow: $4.29 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 14.14
• Book Value: $45.02 per share
• Price / Book: 1.35

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 9,460,000
• Free Float: 8,803,000
• Market Cap: $573.47 million
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.67