Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

Equities researchers at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST – Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday. The firm set a “sell” rating on the bank’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. TheStreet downgraded Southern First Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Southern First Bancshares from $36.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Up 4.3 %

NASDAQ SFST opened at $23.88 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. Southern First Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $20.75 and a fifty-two week high of $49.96. The stock has a market cap of $192.23 million, a P/E ratio of 8.09 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.83.

Insider Transactions at Southern First Bancshares

In related news, CFO David Andrew Borrmann bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $27.20 per share, with a total value of $27,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 8,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,200. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Southern First Bancshares news, Director Anna T. Locke acquired 675 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $40.70 per share, with a total value of $27,472.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,181.90. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO David Andrew Borrmann acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.20 per share, for a total transaction of $27,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,200. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 12,231 shares of company stock valued at $345,954. Insiders own 7.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SFST. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 799,080 shares of the bank’s stock worth $36,558,000 after purchasing an additional 117,405 shares in the last quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 16.9% during the third quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 428,707 shares of the bank’s stock worth $17,860,000 after purchasing an additional 62,098 shares in the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC grew its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 658.3% during the third quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 52,621 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,192,000 after purchasing an additional 45,682 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 289.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 56,867 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 42,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 272.5% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 46,558 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,031,000 after purchasing an additional 34,058 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.08% of the company’s stock.

Southern First Bancshares Company Profile

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Southern First Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company, which engages in the business of accepting demand deposits and savings deposits insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the provision of commercial, consumer, and mortgage loans to the general public. The company was founded in March 1999 and is headquartered in Greenville, SC.