Eukles Asset Management Sells 143 Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Eukles Asset Management trimmed its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 143 shares during the quarter. Eukles Asset Management’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $69,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 138.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 52.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $203,000. 67.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Down 3.0 %

NYSE:SFBS opened at $90.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $89.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.11. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.10 and a 1-year high of $101.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.82 and a beta of 0.91.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.81% and a net margin of 23.16%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. This is a boost from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on SFBS. StockNews.com raised ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Hovde Group increased their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

ServisFirst Bancshares 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.