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

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Director Leighton M. Cubbage sold 2,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.29, for a total value of $83,724.35. Following the transaction, the director now owns 54,303 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,807,746.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Southern First Bancshares Trading Down 1.5 %

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

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $54.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.13 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern First Bancshares, Inc. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern First Bancshares

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