ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Shares Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $1,561,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SFBS. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $102,000. Strs Ohio lifted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $119,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 54.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,365 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 830 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $205,000. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Up 5.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SFBS opened at $81.63 on Friday. 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 cap of $4.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36 and a beta of 0.89. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $45.21 and a 52 week high of $83.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.46.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $114.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $114.80 million. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 21.25% and a return on equity of 14.19%. As a group, research analysts expect that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on SFBS. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Hovde Group increased their target price 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.

About ServisFirst Bancshares

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.