Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on SFST. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southern First Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Southern First Bancshares from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Southern First Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $51.00.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of SFST opened at $48.63 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $398.23 million, a PE ratio of 15.06 and a beta of 0.85. Southern First Bancshares has a 1 year low of $29.14 and a 1 year high of $49.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.89.

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The bank reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.18. Southern First Bancshares had a return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 11.83%.The firm had revenue of $31.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.20 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southern First Bancshares will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Southern First Bancshares by 28.7% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,380 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Southern First Bancshares by 154.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,633 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern First Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares by 111.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern First Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $231,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.