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 research note released on Monday.

SFBS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Hovde Group lifted their target price on ServisFirst Bancshares from $80.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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 note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

ServisFirst Bancshares Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE SFBS opened at $84.74 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $91.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.88. ServisFirst Bancshares has a one year low of $58.05 and a one year 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.66 and a beta of 0.88.

ServisFirst Bancshares (NYSE:SFBS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.13. ServisFirst Bancshares had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 14.23%. The business had revenue of $256.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $120.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that ServisFirst Bancshares will post 4.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ServisFirst Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. This is a boost from ServisFirst Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. ServisFirst Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.83%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Henry Fulbrook Abbott sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.20, for a total transaction of $85,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,501 shares in the company, valued at $724,285.20. This represents a 10.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ServisFirst Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,037,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $83,466,000 after purchasing an additional 108,088 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in ServisFirst Bancshares by 17.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after buying an additional 2,080 shares during the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp acquired a new stake in ServisFirst Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $234,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.1% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of ServisFirst Bancshares by 2.1% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 33,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,680,000 after acquiring an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. 67.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.