ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE SFBS opened at $94.58 on Tuesday. ServisFirst Bancshares has a one year low of $49.72 and a one year high of $100.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.96.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $256.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.70 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 14.23%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.09%.

Insider Activity at ServisFirst Bancshares

In related news, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total value of $85,200.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $724,285.20. This represents a 10.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.58, for a total value of $966,960.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 307,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,805,505.46. The trade was a 3.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 2,704.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 415,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,428,000 after buying an additional 400,694 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 34.0% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,438,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,484,000 after acquiring an additional 364,720 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 4.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,699,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,228,000 after purchasing an additional 221,507 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the third quarter worth $10,507,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $7,181,000. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.