Southern First Bancshares, Inc.

NasdaqGM:SFST Stock Report

Market Cap: US$584.3m

Southern First Bancshares Management

Management criteria checks 4/4

Southern First Bancshares' CEO is Art Seaver, appointed in Jan 1999, has a tenure of 27.5 years. total yearly compensation is $1.15M, comprised of 44.9% salary and 55.1% bonuses, including company stock and options. directly owns 0.97% of the company’s shares, worth $5.68M. The average tenure of the management team and the board of directors is 3 years and 27 years respectively.

Key information

Art Seaver

Chief executive officer

US$1.1m

Total compensation

CEO salary percentage44.91%
CEO tenure27.5yrs
CEO ownership1.0%
Management average tenure3yrs
Board average tenure27yrs

Recent management updates

Recent updates

Seeking Alpha • Jul 10

Southern First Bancshares Is Improving, But Not Enough To Turn Bullish Over

Summary Southern First Bancshares continues to deliver strong balance sheet and profitability growth, yet remains a 'hold' due to valuation and risk factors. SFST's deposit base is expanding, but high brokered (13%) and uninsured (42.4%) deposits present structural risks. Profitability improved with net interest income rising to $29M and net profit nearly doubling, but asset quality and return on assets (0.91%) remain below target. SFST is vulnerable to rising rates due to 74% fixed-rate loans and trades at a 14.9x P/E, above preferred levels and most peers. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Analysis Article • Apr 23

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Just Reported First-Quarter Earnings: Have Analysts Changed Their Mind On The Stock?

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. ( NASDAQ:SFST ) shareholders are probably feeling a little disappointed, since its...
Seeking Alpha • Aug 23

Southern First Bancshares names new president

Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) named Tuesday Cal Hurst as the company's new president. Hurst has served as chief banking officer and executive vice president of Southern First since 2019 and has over 16 years of experience in the banking industry. Earlier: Southern First Bancshares GAAP EPS of $0.90, revenue of $27.15M
Seeking Alpha • Apr 21

Southern First Bancshares Could Become Interesting At A Slightly Lower Share Price

Southern First Bancshares is the holding company for the Southern First Bank in South Carolina. The bank's earnings profile is very decent and the mortgage banking business adds a few million dollars to the taxable income. The bank does not pay a dividend, and all earnings are retained on the balance sheet which helps to rapidly boost the book value per share.
Analysis Article • Nov 08

Should You Be Adding Southern First Bancshares (NASDAQ:SFST) To Your Watchlist Today?

Like a puppy chasing its tail, some new investors often chase 'the next big thing', even if that means buying 'story...
Analysis Article • Mar 04

This Insider Has Just Sold Shares In Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST)

Anyone interested in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. ( NASDAQ:SFST ) should probably be aware that the Executive VP...
Analysis Article • Feb 07

Have Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Insiders Been Selling Their Stock?

Investors may wish to note that the Independent Director of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. , Anne Ellefson, recently...
Analysis Article • Jan 19

Is Southern First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFST) Popular Amongst Insiders?

The big shareholder groups in Southern First Bancshares, Inc. ( NASDAQ:SFST ) have power over the company. Institutions...
Analysis Article • Dec 14

A Quick Analysis On Southern First Bancshares' (NASDAQ:SFST) CEO Compensation

Art Seaver became the CEO of Southern First Bancshares, Inc. ( NASDAQ:SFST ) in 1999, and we think it's a good time to...

CEO Compensation Analysis

How has Art Seaver's remuneration changed compared to Southern First Bancshares's earnings?
DateTotal CompensationSalaryCompany Earnings
Mar 31 2026n/an/a

US$35m

Dec 31 2025US$1mUS$515k

US$30m

Sep 30 2025n/an/a

US$26m

Jun 30 2025n/an/a

US$22m

Mar 31 2025n/an/a

US$18m

Dec 31 2024US$1mUS$515k

US$16m

Sep 30 2024n/an/a

US$14m

Jun 30 2024n/an/a

US$14m

Mar 31 2024n/an/a

US$13m

Dec 31 2023US$805kUS$515k

US$13m

Sep 30 2023n/an/a

US$15m

Jun 30 2023n/an/a

US$19m

Mar 31 2023n/an/a

US$24m

Dec 31 2022US$931kUS$510k

US$29m

Sep 30 2022n/an/a

US$36m

Jun 30 2022n/an/a

US$41m

Mar 31 2022n/an/a

US$44m

Dec 31 2021US$1mUS$495k

US$47m

Sep 30 2021n/an/a

US$43m

Jun 30 2021n/an/a

US$32m

Mar 31 2021n/an/a

US$26m

Dec 31 2020US$1mUS$495k

US$18m

Sep 30 2020n/an/a

US$17m

Jun 30 2020n/an/a

US$22m

Mar 31 2020n/an/a

US$25m

Dec 31 2019US$949kUS$485k

US$28m

Compensation vs Market: Art's total compensation ($USD1.15M) is below average for companies of similar size in the US market ($USD2.41M).

Compensation vs Earnings: Art's compensation has been consistent with company performance over the past year.

CEO

Art Seaver (62 yo)

27.5yrs
Tenure
US$1,146,832
Compensation

Mr. R. Arthur Seaver, Jr., also known as Art, has been the Chief Executive Officer of Southern First Bancshares Inc. since 1999 and its subsidiary bank, Southern First Bank since 2000. Mr. Seaver has years...

Leadership Team

NamePositionTenureCompensationOwnership
R. Seaver
CEO & Director27.5yrsUS$1.15m0.97%
$ 5.7m
Calvin Hurst
President & Chief Banking Officer3.9yrsUS$697.94k0.19%
$ 1.1m
Christian Zych
Executive VP & CFO2.2yrsUS$539.61k0.021%
$ 123.8k
Julie Fairchild
Chief Accounting Officer & Principal Accounting Officer1.8yrsUS$312.23k0.071%
$ 414.1k
Wesley Wilbanks
Executive VP & Chief Credit Officer of Southern First Bank1.3yrsUS$365.47k0.066%
$ 386.5k
Silvia King
Chief Human Resources Officer8.3yrsUS$282.49k0.028%
$ 164.5k
Brandon Rich
Senior VP & Executive Director of Market Support1.2yrsno datano data
Carl Francois
Executive Director and SVP of BSAno datano datano data
Brian Kornahrens
Team Leader & SVPno datano datano data
Frederick Gilmer
Executive Vice President of Southern First Bank and Senior Lending Officer of Southern First Bank27.5yrsUS$21.60kno data
3.0yrs
Average Tenure
52.5yo
Average Age

Experienced Management: SFST's management team is considered experienced (3 years average tenure).

Board Members

NamePositionTenureCompensationOwnership
R. Seaver
CEO & Director26.5yrsUS$1.15m0.97%
$ 5.7m
Leighton Cubbage
Independent Director27.5yrsUS$57.49k0.53%
$ 3.1m
James Orders
Independent Chairman of the Board27.5yrsUS$69.69k0.61%
$ 3.6m
William Maner
Independent Director5.1yrsUS$59.99k0.038%
$ 221.6k
Tecumseh Hooper
Independent Director27.5yrsUS$58.69k0.45%
$ 2.7m
Rudolph Johnstone
Independent Director27.5yrsUS$59.99k0.32%
$ 1.9m
Andrew Cajka
Independent Director27.5yrsUS$70.79k0.13%
$ 765.5k
Mark Cothran
Independent Director27.5yrsUS$57.39k1.06%
$ 6.2m
David Ellison
Independent Director25.5yrsUS$58.09k0.53%
$ 3.1m
Anne Ellefson
Independent Director25.5yrsUS$63.59k0.071%
$ 413.9k
Anna Locke
Independent Director7.6yrsUS$59.99k0.035%
$ 203.5k
Terry Grayson-Caprio
Independent Director5.1yrsUS$63.59k0.041%
$ 240.1k
27.0yrs
Average Tenure
67yo
Average Age

Experienced Board: SFST's board of directors are seasoned and experienced ( 27 years average tenure).

Company Analysis and Financial Data Status

DataLast Updated (UTC time)
Company Analysis2026/07/16 00:09
End of Day Share Price 2026/07/16 00:00
Earnings2026/03/31
Annual Earnings2025/12/31

Data Sources

The data used in our company analysis is from S&P Global Market Intelligence LLC. The following data is used in our analysis model to generate this report. Data is normalised which can introduce a delay from the source being available.

PackageDataTimeframeExample US Source *
Company Financials10 years
  • Income statement
  • Cash flow statement
  • Balance sheet
Analyst Consensus Estimates+3 years
  • Forecast financials
  • Analyst price targets
Market Prices30 years
  • Stock prices
  • Dividends, Splits and Actions
Ownership10 years
  • Top shareholders
  • Insider trading
Management10 years
  • Leadership team
  • Board of directors
Key Developments10 years
  • Company announcements

* Example for US securities, for non-US equivalent regulatory forms and sources are used.

Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more.

Analysis Model and Snowflake

Details of the analysis model used to generate this report is available on our Github page, we also have guides on how to use our reports and tutorials on Youtube.

Learn about the world class team who designed and built the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Industry and Sector Metrics

Our industry and section metrics are calculated every 6 hours by Simply Wall St, details of our process are available on Github.

Analyst Sources

Southern First Bancshares, Inc. is covered by 3 analysts. 2 of those analysts submitted the estimates of revenue or earnings used as inputs to our report. Analysts submissions are updated throughout the day.

AnalystInstitution
Christopher MarinacBrean Capital Historical (Janney Montgomery)
Jefferson HarralsonKeefe, Bruyette, & Woods
Stephen ScoutenPiper Sandler Companies