Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Anna Locke Acquires 300 Shares

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFSTGet Free Report) Director Anna Locke bought 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $63.27 per share, with a total value of $18,981.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,902 shares in the company, valued at $246,879.54. This represents a 8.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:SFST opened at $63.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $600.90 million, a PE ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.67. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.90 and a 1 year high of $65.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $62.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.81.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFSTGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $20.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.30 million. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 16.78% and a return on equity of 10.18%. Analysts predict that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on SFST. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research cut Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Check Out Our Latest Report on SFST

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFST. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Southern First Bancshares in the second quarter worth approximately $50,736,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 380,368 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $20,730,000 after purchasing an additional 2,657 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $10,998,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 150,607 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,208,000 after purchasing an additional 22,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,619,000. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Southern First Bancshares

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Insider Buying and Selling by Quarter for Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST)

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