Southern First Bancshares (SFST) Competitors

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) and First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FNLC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, community ranking, valuation, risk, profitability, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Do insiders & institutionals believe in SFST or FNLC?

75.0% of Southern First Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.4% of First Bancorp shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.6% of Southern First Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.0% of First Bancorp shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts recommend SFST or FNLC?

Southern First Bancshares presently has a consensus target price of $44.00, suggesting a potential upside of 2.16%. Given Southern First Bancshares' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Southern First Bancshares is more favorable than First Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern First Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
First Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00

Which has higher valuation and earnings, SFST or FNLC?

First Bancorp has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Southern First Bancshares. First Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southern First Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southern First Bancshares	$187.46M	1.87	$13.43M	$1.73	24.90
First Bancorp	$143.61M	2.23	$29.52M	$2.37	12.13

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer SFST or FNLC?

Southern First Bancshares received 9 more outperform votes than First Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 62.30% of users gave First Bancorp an outperform vote while only 52.79% of users gave Southern First Bancshares an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Southern First Bancshares	Outperform Votes 199 52.79%	Underperform Votes 178 47.21%
First Bancorp	Outperform Votes 190 62.30%	Underperform Votes 115 37.70%

Which has more risk and volatility, SFST or FNLC?

Southern First Bancshares has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Bancorp has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its stock price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer SFST or FNLC?

In the previous week, First Bancorp had 2 more articles in the media than Southern First Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for First Bancorp and 1 mentions for Southern First Bancshares. Southern First Bancshares' average media sentiment score of 1.89 beat First Bancorp's score of 1.33 indicating that Southern First Bancshares is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Southern First Bancshares	Very Positive
First Bancorp	Positive

Is SFST or FNLC more profitable?

First Bancorp has a net margin of 16.46% compared to Southern First Bancshares' net margin of 6.67%. First Bancorp's return on equity of 10.72% beat Southern First Bancshares' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern First Bancshares	6.67%	4.42%	0.34%
First Bancorp	16.46%	10.72%	0.87%

Summary

Southern First Bancshares beats First Bancorp on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.