Southern First Bancshares (SFST) Competitors $44.74 -0.62 (-1.37%) Closing price 09/12/2025 04:00 PM EasternExtended Trading$44.80 +0.06 (+0.13%) As of 09/12/2025 04:57 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestTrendsBuy This Stock SFST vs. ABCB, CNOB, FCBC, FMBH, HOPE, IBCP, MBWM, OCFC, WSBC, and BYShould you be buying Southern First Bancshares stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Southern First Bancshares include Ameris Bancorp (ABCB), ConnectOne Bancorp (CNOB), First Community Bancshares (FCBC), First Mid Bancshares (FMBH), Hope Bancorp (HOPE), Independent Bank (IBCP), Mercantile Bank (MBWM), OceanFirst Financial (OCFC), WesBanco (WSBC), and Byline Bancorp (BY). These companies are all part of the "finance" sector. Southern First Bancshares vs. Its Competitors Ameris Bancorp ConnectOne Bancorp First Community Bancshares First Mid Bancshares Hope Bancorp Independent Bank Mercantile Bank OceanFirst Financial WesBanco Byline Bancorp Ameris Bancorp (NASDAQ:ABCB) and Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, media sentiment, analyst recommendations and earnings. Does the media prefer ABCB or SFST? In the previous week, Ameris Bancorp had 7 more articles in the media than Southern First Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Ameris Bancorp and 1 mentions for Southern First Bancshares. Southern First Bancshares' average media sentiment score of 1.89 beat Ameris Bancorp's score of 1.39 indicating that Southern First Bancshares is being referred to more favorably in the news media. Company Overall Sentiment Ameris Bancorp Positive Southern First Bancshares Very Positive Is ABCB or SFST more profitable? Ameris Bancorp has a net margin of 21.46% compared to Southern First Bancshares' net margin of 10.09%. Ameris Bancorp's return on equity of 9.57% beat Southern First Bancshares' return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Ameris Bancorp21.46% 9.57% 1.32% Southern First Bancshares 10.09%6.52%0.52% Which has more risk & volatility, ABCB or SFST? Ameris Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southern First Bancshares has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Do analysts prefer ABCB or SFST? Ameris Bancorp presently has a consensus target price of $72.14, indicating a potential downside of 3.03%. Southern First Bancshares has a consensus target price of $51.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.99%. Given Southern First Bancshares' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Southern First Bancshares is more favorable than Ameris Bancorp.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Ameris Bancorp 0 Sell rating(s) 1 Hold rating(s) 6 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.86Southern First Bancshares 0 Sell rating(s) 0 Hold rating(s) 1 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 3.00 Do insiders and institutionals believe in ABCB or SFST? 91.6% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.0% of Southern First Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 5.4% of Ameris Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.1% of Southern First Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth. Which has preferable valuation and earnings, ABCB or SFST? Ameris Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Southern First Bancshares. Ameris 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. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioAmeris Bancorp$1.13B4.53$358.68M$5.6813.10Southern First Bancshares$213.35M1.72$15.53M$2.7016.57 SummaryAmeris Bancorp beats Southern First Bancshares on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks. Get Southern First Bancshares News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for SFST and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Subscribe Now View SMS TermsBy entering your phone number and clicking the sign-up button, you agree to receive periodic text messages from MarketBeat at the phone number you submitted, including texts that may be sent using an automatic telephone dialing system. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency will vary. Messages will consist of stock alerts, news stories, and partner advertisements/offers. Consent is not a condition of the purchase of any goods or services. Text HELP for help/customer support. Unsubscribe at any time by replying "STOP" to any text message that you receive from MarketBeat or by visiting our mailing preferences page. Read our full terms of service and privacy policy. New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding SFST and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.Skip Chart SFST vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricSouthern First BancsharesBANKS IndustryFinance SectorNASDAQ ExchangeMarket Cap$371.08M$2.03B$12.77B$10.14BDividend YieldN/A2.58%5.40%4.60%P/E Ratio16.5711.90245.8625.98Price / Sales1.722.7931.08180.60Price / Cash17.7213.0022.3660.44Price / Book1.101.242.316.29Net Income$15.53M$156.23M$1.01B$271.07M7 Day Performance-0.11%-0.58%1.00%3.87%1 Month Performance5.64%2.49%2.74%5.49%1 Year Performance32.84%18.47%543.82%25.86% Southern First Bancshares Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)SFSTSouthern First Bancshares3.6936 of 5 stars$44.74-1.4%$51.00+14.0%+32.8%$371.08M$213.35M16.57290ABCBAmeris Bancorp3.6103 of 5 stars$73.46-0.8%$72.14-1.8%+21.9%$5.08B$1.13B14.102,850News CoveragePositive NewsCNOBConnectOne Bancorp4.9252 of 5 stars$25.70+0.5%$30.25+17.7%+1.7%$1.29B$288.35M29.54520Positive NewsFCBCFirst Community Bancshares2.8918 of 5 stars$37.83+0.7%N/A-13.6%$687.91M$185.53M13.86630Positive NewsFMBHFirst Mid Bancshares3.653 of 5 stars$40.59+1.2%$43.33+6.8%+0.2%$962.77M$453.67M11.531,198Short Interest ↓HOPEHope Bancorp4.9225 of 5 stars$11.17+0.4%$13.25+18.6%-11.9%$1.43B$444.74M31.911,244Positive NewsIBCPIndependent Bank3.9686 of 5 stars$32.94+0.4%$36.00+9.3%-5.6%$679.69M$323.14M10.73920Positive NewsMBWMMercantile Bank4.1297 of 5 stars$48.56-0.2%$55.25+13.8%+8.1%$790.98M$361.89M9.63670News CoveragePositive NewsOCFCOceanFirst Financial4.4093 of 5 stars$18.27-0.4%$20.67+13.1%+2.5%$1.05B$692.36M12.96960WSBCWesBanco4.9762 of 5 stars$32.13-0.5%$38.83+20.9%+2.6%$3.10B$762.17M19.362,195News CoveragePositive NewsAnalyst UpgradeBYByline Bancorp4.1413 of 5 stars$29.40+1.6%$33.25+13.1%+9.4%$1.33B$624.78M10.971,027News CoveragePositive NewsShort Interest ↓ Related Companies and Tools Related Companies ABCB Competitors CNOB Competitors FCBC Competitors FMBH Competitors HOPE Competitors IBCP Competitors MBWM Competitors OCFC Competitors WSBC Competitors BY Competitors Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (NASDAQ:SFST) was last updated on 9/14/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersNvidia Times 1,000,000Nvidia’s latest AI chip is a $25,000 powerhouse — with 80 billion transistors and the ability to perform 60 tr...Paradigm Press | SponsoredForget NVDA. 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