Leighton M. Cubbage Sells 2,515 Shares of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Stock

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 2,515 shares of Southern First Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total transaction of $83,724.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 54,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,807,746.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Southern First Bancshares Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ SFST traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $33.01. 603 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,672. Southern First Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.98 and a 52-week high of $39.36. The firm has a market cap of $269.23 million, a PE ratio of 20.43 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.08. Southern First Bancshares had a net margin of 6.67% and a return on equity of 4.41%. The business had revenue of $54.07 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.13 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Long Focus Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $292,000. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 31.5% during the second quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 33,468 shares of the bank’s stock worth $979,000 after purchasing an additional 8,025 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 92,293 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,699,000 after purchasing an additional 7,786 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 323,001 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,444,000 after purchasing an additional 10,138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Southern First Bancshares by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 32,654 shares of the bank’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,945 shares during the period. 75.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised Southern First Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th.

Southern First Bancshares Company Profile

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.