Insider Selling: ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Director Sells 18,000 Shares of Stock

ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total value of $1,596,240.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,546,224.48. This trade represents a 50.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $88.53 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.47. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $58.10 and a one year high of $101.37. The company has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a PE ratio of 21.28 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 14.81%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. This is a positive change from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on SFBS. Piper Sandler upped their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Hovde Group boosted 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quarry LP bought a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth approximately $69,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 761.6% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 169.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.