Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) announced its earnings results on Tuesday. The bank reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 8.63%.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of SFST traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $56.38. The company had a trading volume of 17,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 90,894. The stock has a market cap of $465.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02 and a beta of 0.74. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $55.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.26. Southern First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $32.90 and a fifty-two week high of $62.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SFST. 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. Wall Street Zen raised Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research cut Southern First Bancshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Southern First Bancshares from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern First Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $64.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Silvia T. King sold 2,625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.49, for a total value of $158,786.25. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,721.87. This trade represents a 39.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 7.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern First Bancshares

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 215.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 50,451 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,599,000 after acquiring an additional 34,466 shares during the period. Informed Momentum Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $1,106,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the third quarter worth $756,000. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $640,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP boosted its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 142.6% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 20,784 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after purchasing an additional 12,218 shares during the period. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.