ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $76.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Hovde Group raised 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 note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of SFBS stock opened at $85.64 on Monday. ServisFirst Bancshares has a 52-week low of $58.05 and a 52-week high of $101.37. 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 stock has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $91.23 and its 200-day moving average is $80.68.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (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 last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This is an increase from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is 35.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other ServisFirst Bancshares news, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $724,285.20. The trade was a 10.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,157,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $93,126,000 after acquiring an additional 23,555 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,230,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,775,000 after purchasing an additional 36,302 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 42.2% in the second quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 156,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,898,000 after purchasing an additional 46,469 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 286.8% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 64,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,048,000 after purchasing an additional 47,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $408,000. 67.31% of the stock is currently 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.