Citigroup Inc. Buys 16,219 Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 82,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,219 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $6,654,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 4,880.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares by 138.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $84,000. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 8.7% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $95.78 on Friday. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $50.56 and a 12 month high of $101.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a PE ratio of 25.61 and a beta of 0.86.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.13. ServisFirst Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.23% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $256.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Research analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 32.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SFBS shares. Hovde Group raised their price target on ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 24th. Finally, 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.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 8,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $724,285.20. The trade was a 10.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Rodney Eldon Rushing sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.58, for a total transaction of $966,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 307,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,805,505.46. The trade was a 3.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.