Southern First Bancshares (SFST) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $459.63M
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 17.98K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): 14.9
• Beta (1Y): 0.88
• Revenue Growth: 4.74%
• EPS Growth: 86.27%
• Country: US
• Employees: 297
• Sector: Financial
• Sector Strength: 70
• Industry: Banks - Regional
• EPS (TTM): 1.21
• Shares Outstanding: 8,231,198
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 14,806
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 17,982
• PEG Ratio: 0.14
• Price to Book (P/B): 1.12
• Price to Sales (P/S): 1.85
• P/FCF Ratio: 13.88
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 1.51
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 3.10
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 6.04
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: 15.81
• 1Y Price Target: $64.00
• Price Target Upside: 14.61% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Moderate Buy
• Number of Analyst Covering: 1
• EPS Forecast (FY): 5.3
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $141.40M

• Rating: 66 Neutral
• Price Target: $60.00 ▲(7.45% Upside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 02/28/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 02/28/26

The score is driven primarily by improving fundamentals in 2025 (stronger revenue/profitability and a healthier balance sheet), tempered by historical volatility in margins and cash-flow consistency. Technicals are supportive longer-term but weaker near-term, and valuation looks reasonable based on a mid-teens P/E.

Positive Factors

Sustained revenue and profit rebound

Meaningful revenue acceleration and a sharp profit rebound through 2025 indicate durable improvement in core banking flows (loan and deposit growth). Stronger recurring revenue and restored profitability help fund growth, build capital internally, and reduce reliance on external financing over the medium term.

Improving balance sheet leverage and capital

Declining leverage and rising equity signal a healthier capital position and greater resilience to stress. A stronger capital base supports lending capacity, meets regulatory expectations, and gives management flexibility for M&A or reinvestment while helping preserve depositor and investor confidence over multiple economic cycles.

Free cash flow tracks net income

When FCF aligns with net income for a bank, it indicates earnings are being converted into available cash rather than driven by accounting items. This quality underpins sustainable dividend capacity, internal investment in loan growth and technology, and reduces dependence on volatile wholesale funding across planning horizons.

Negative Factors

Volatile margins and cycle sensitivity

Material margin variability tied to rate and credit cycles reduces predictability of core earnings and weakens compounding returns. For a regional bank, this sensitivity can pressure ROE and cash generation during downturns, complicating capital planning and investor visibility over multi-quarter horizons.

Inconsistent free cash flow growth

Irregular FCF trajectories constrain steady capital allocation, making it harder to commit to dividends, buybacks, or sustained loan growth. This variability signals operational or cyclical swings in cash conversion that can limit long-term strategic investments and heighten funding risk in stressed periods.

Leverage remains above earlier conservative levels

Although leverage is improving, it remains elevated versus prior conservative norms, which raises downside risk if credit stress or deposit pressure emerges. Returns below prior peaks suggest capital efficiency has room to recover, and higher leverage can amplify earnings volatility and regulatory scrutiny over time.

Southern First Bancshares Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Southern First Bank that provides various banking products and services to general public in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia. It operates through three segments: Commercial and Retail Banking, Mortgage Banking, and Corporate Operations. 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. Its loan portfolio comprises commercial real estate loans; construction real estate loans; commercial business loans for various lines of businesses, such as the manufacturing, service industry, and professional service areas; consumer real estate and home equity loans; and other consumer loans, including secured and unsecured installment loans and revolving lines of credit. In addition, the company provides other bank services, such as internet banking, cash management, safe deposit boxes, direct deposit, automatic drafts, bill payment, and mobile banking services. It operates through eight retail offices located in Greenville, Charleston, and Columbia; three retail offices located in Raleigh, Greensboro, and Charlotte markets; and one retail office located in Atlanta. The company was incorporated in 1999 and is headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina.

How the Company Makes Money

Southern First Bancshares generates revenue primarily through interest income from loans and investment securities. The bank issues various types of loans, including commercial, residential, and consumer loans, which typically yield higher interest rates than the cost of deposits. Additionally, the bank earns non-interest income from service fees, mortgage origination fees, and wealth management services. Key partnerships with local businesses and real estate developers contribute to its loan portfolio growth, while its strong capital position allows for expansion and effective asset management, further enhancing its profitability.

Southern First Bancshares Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Financials show improving momentum in 2025 (strong revenue growth and a meaningful profitability rebound) alongside a strengthening balance sheet (higher equity and moderating leverage). Offsetting this, profitability and cash-flow trends have been volatile across years, indicating cyclicality and less consistent compounding.

Income Statement

Revenue has grown strongly over the last several years (2023–2025 annual revenue up materially, with 2025 showing a sharp acceleration), and profitability rebounded meaningfully in 2025 (net income roughly doubled vs. 2024) with improved operating and net margins. However, margins have been volatile across the period (very high in 2021–2022, compressed in 2023–2024, then recovered in 2025), which suggests earnings are more rate/credit-cycle sensitive than consistently compounding.

Balance Sheet

Leverage appears manageable and improving recently: debt-to-equity declined from about 1.0x (2023) to ~0.72x (2025), and equity has grown steadily alongside asset growth. Returns on equity also improved in 2025 versus the prior two years, indicating better profitability on the capital base. The key watch-out is that leverage is still meaningfully higher than the 2020–2021 period, and returns remain below the 2021 peak—suggesting the balance sheet is sound but not exceptionally conservative for a regional bank.

Cash Flow

Cash generation is solid with free cash flow closely tracking net income in recent years (free cash flow running near net income in 2023–2025), which supports earnings quality. That said, free cash flow growth has been inconsistent (down in 2022, down in 2023, up in 2024, then down again in 2025), and operating cash flow is modest relative to the size of the business, pointing to variability in underlying cash movement typical of banking working-capital dynamics.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	224.62M	213.32M	187.46M	127.64M	110.26M
Gross Profit	115.14M	93.33M	86.25M	101.44M	117.23M
EBITDA	44.34M	24.72M	22.24M	41.81M	63.12M
Net Income	30.37M	15.53M	13.43M	29.11M	46.71M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	4.40B	4.09B	4.06B	3.69B	2.93B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	155.55M	34.87M	46.29M	162.94M	200.61M
Total Debt	264.90M	264.90M	311.32M	211.21M	36.11M
Total Liabilities	4.03B	3.76B	3.74B	3.40B	2.65B
Stockholders Equity	368.66M	330.44M	312.47M	294.51M	277.90M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	29.88M	24.77M	16.41M	36.35M	51.56M
Operating Cash Flow	30.46M	25.56M	17.65M	50.30M	78.07M
Investing Cash Flow	-206.33M	-28.86M	-378.57M	-792.58M	-410.63M
Financing Cash Flow	282.60M	9.99M	346.22M	745.94M	399.08M

Southern First Bancshares Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Neutral
• Last Price: 55.84
• 50DMA: Positive
• 100DMA: Positive
• 200DMA: Positive
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Neutral
• STOCH: Neutral

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For SFST, the sentiment is Neutral. The current price of 55.84 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 58.72, above the 50-day MA of 55.73, and above the 200-day MA of 46.05, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of 1.04 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 43.18 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 49.03 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Neutral sentiment for SFST.

Southern First Bancshares Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
BWFG	71 Outperform	$367.88M	10.49	10.04%	1.66%	2.52%	85.94%
WTBA	69 Neutral	$412.51M	12.71	13.14%	4.39%	4.47%	49.09%
PDLB	68 Neutral	$390.02M	13.65	5.48%	―	16.03%	145.10%
Sector *	68 Neutral	$18.00B	11.42	9.92%	3.81%	9.73%	1.22%
SFST	66 Neutral	$459.63M	14.92	7.65%	―	4.74%	86.27%
FMAO	63 Neutral	$355.57M	10.66	8.98%	3.18%	6.52%	36.77%
MSBI	61 Neutral	$476.94M	-3.61	-17.52%	5.87%	12.76%	-401.62%

Southern First Bancshares Corporate Events

Southern First Bancshares Reports Strong Q4 2025 Results

On January 22, 2026, Southern First Bancshares reported that its fourth quarter of 2025 was its strongest of the year, with diluted earnings per share rising to $1.21, up 13% from the prior quarter and 73% from the same period in 2024, driven by solid loan growth, even stronger deposit growth, and an expanding net interest margin, which climbed to 2.72%. The bank ended December 31, 2025 with total loans of $3.8 billion and total deposits of $3.7 billion, both up mid‑single digits year over year, while maintaining strong asset quality metrics, improved efficiency, higher book value per share, and robust capital ratios, underscoring strengthened profitability and balance sheet resilience that support its growth ambitions in resilient Southeast markets and provide reassurance to shareholders and depositors.

The most recent analyst rating on (SFST) stock is a Buy with a $59.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Southern First Bancshares stock, see the SFST Stock Forecast page.