ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of 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 upped their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

ServisFirst Bancshares Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of SFBS stock opened at $99.11 on Friday. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 52-week low of $49.72 and a 52-week high of $101.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $85.65 and its 200 day moving average is $75.26. 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 $5.41 billion, a PE ratio of 25.84 and a beta of 0.86.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.13. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.23% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $256.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServisFirst Bancshares

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SFBS. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.4% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.6% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 32,215 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,036,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 6.5% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.9% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 43,131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,725,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.