Arizona State Retirement System Raises Position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in ServisFirst Bancshares were worth $1,274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $69,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 169.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $197,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in ServisFirst Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total transaction of $1,596,240.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,436 shares in the company, valued at $1,546,224.48. This trade represents a 50.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 7.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ServisFirst Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of SFBS opened at $81.45 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $87.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.88. The company has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.58 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.11 and a fifty-two week high of $101.37.

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. Research analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd were given a dividend of $0.335 per share. 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 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 2nd. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SFBS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 5th. Piper Sandler raised their target price 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.