ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) Position Raised by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:SFBS) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.10% of ServisFirst Bancshares worth $4,522,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 15,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position 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 worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 7,345 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,853 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Cottonwood Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of ServisFirst Bancshares from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded ServisFirst Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling at ServisFirst Bancshares

In other news, Director Christopher J. Mettler sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.68, for a total transaction of $1,596,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,436 shares in the company, valued at $1,546,224.48. The trade was a 50.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Performance

ServisFirst Bancshares stock opened at $83.13 on Thursday. ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $58.11 and a fifty-two week high of $101.37. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.98 and a beta of 0.91.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 23.16% and a return on equity of 14.81%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. ServisFirst Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 32.21%.

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.