Southern First Bancshares (SFST) Competitors

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) and First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNLC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, community ranking, risk, institutional ownership, valuation, media sentiment, dividends, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Which has better earnings and valuation, SFST or FNLC?

First Bancorp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Southern First Bancshares. First Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southern First Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southern First Bancshares	$187.46M	1.56	$13.43M	$1.64	21.88
First Bancorp	$143.61M	2.28	$29.52M	$2.48	11.86

Is SFST or FNLC more profitable?

First Bancorp has a net margin of 16.95% compared to Southern First Bancshares' net margin of 6.67%. First Bancorp's return on equity of 11.10% beat Southern First Bancshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern First Bancshares	6.67%	4.44%	0.34%
First Bancorp	16.95%	11.10%	0.89%

Do analysts rate SFST or FNLC?

Southern First Bancshares presently has a consensus price target of $44.00, suggesting a potential upside of 22.63%. Given Southern First Bancshares' higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Southern First Bancshares is more favorable than First Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern First Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
First Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	N/A

Do insiders & institutionals believe in SFST or FNLC?

75.0% of Southern First Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.4% of First Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 7.6% of Southern First Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of First Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility and risk, SFST or FNLC?

Southern First Bancshares has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Bancorp has a beta of 0.57, suggesting that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor SFST or FNLC?

In the previous week, First Bancorp had 5 more articles in the media than Southern First Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for First Bancorp and 6 mentions for Southern First Bancshares. Southern First Bancshares' average media sentiment score of 1.02 beat First Bancorp's score of 0.38 indicating that Southern First Bancshares is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Southern First Bancshares	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First Bancorp	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community favor SFST or FNLC?

Southern First Bancshares received 9 more outperform votes than First Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 62.30% of users gave First Bancorp an outperform vote while only 52.79% of users gave Southern First Bancshares an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Southern First Bancshares	Outperform Votes 199 52.79%	Underperform Votes 178 47.21%
First Bancorp	Outperform Votes 190 62.30%	Underperform Votes 115 37.70%

Summary

Southern First Bancshares beats First Bancorp on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.