ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $86.99 and last traded at $86.99, with a volume of 41061 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $83.48.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SFBS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $68.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Down 0.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.19 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.85.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $114.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $114.80 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 21.25% and a return on equity of 14.19%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.58, for a total transaction of $966,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 307,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,805,505.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 7.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 138.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 4,880.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the second quarter valued at about $84,000. Mechanics Bank Trust Department acquired a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the third quarter worth approximately $225,000. Finally, LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $241,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Company Profile

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for ServisFirst Bank that provides various banking services to individual and corporate customers. It accepts demand, time, savings, and other deposits; checking, money market, and IRA accounts; and certificates of deposit. The company's loan products include commercial lending products, including seasonal, bridge, and term loans for working capital, expansion of the business, acquisition of property, and plant and equipment, as well as commercial lines of credit; commercial real estate loans, construction and development loans, and residential real estate loans; and consumer loans, such as home equity loans, vehicle financing, loans secured by deposits, and secured and unsecured personal loans.