Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ SFST opened at $28.90 on Wednesday. Southern First Bancshares has a twelve month low of $23.70 and a twelve month high of $39.36. The stock has a market cap of $235.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company’s fifty day moving average is $27.29 and its 200-day moving average is $31.21.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The bank reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $21.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.38 million. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 6.69% and a return on equity of 4.30%. Equities research analysts predict that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern First Bancshares

In related news, Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 1,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.34, for a total transaction of $48,419.14. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 62,664 shares in the company, valued at $1,713,233.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,963 shares of company stock valued at $110,306. 7.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 7.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 12,860 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 139,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,424,000 after buying an additional 1,730 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Southern First Bancshares by 93.5% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,921 shares of the bank’s stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 1,895 shares in the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 256.4% during the 4th quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,780 shares of the bank’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $157,000. 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.